Publications
of the
MPIfR
Optical & Infrared
Interferometry Group
N.R. Ikhsanov:
Can the 33s pulsations observed from AE
Aquarii be
explained in terms of accretion onto the white dwarf surface ?
Astronomy and Astrophysics 374, 1030-1034
(2001)
Abstract.
The 33s pulsing component observed from AE Aqr
is frequently assumed to be the result of accretion onto the
surface of a rotating white dwarf.
The validity of this assumption is discussed in the present paper.
I show that under the conditions of interest the white dwarf is in
the state of supersonic propeller and the efficiency of plasma
penetration into its magnetosphere is < 0.1%. This is too small
to explain the observed luminosity of the pulsing component.
Moreover, I find that for the currently established value of the
angle between the magnetic and rotational axes of the white dwarf,
the material entering the magnetosphere at the boundary can never reach
its surface by flowing along the magnetic field lines. I
conclude that the assumption about the direct accretion onto the
surface of the white dwarf in AE Aqr contradicts the observational
data obtained in the optical/UV and thus cannot be accepted.
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