The accretion flow in the discless intermediate polar V2400 Ophiuchi

Abstract

RXTE observations confirm that the X-ray lightcurve of V2400 Oph is pulsed at the beat cycle, as expected in a discless intermediate polar. There are no X-ray modulations at the orbital or spin cycles, but optical line profiles vary with all three cycles. We construct a model for line-profile variations in a discless accretor, based on the idea that the accretion stream flips from one magnetic pole to the other, and show that this accounts for the observed behaviour over the spin and beat cycles. The minimal variability over the orbital cycle implies that 1) V2400 Oph is at an inclination of only ~10 deg, and 2) much of the accretion flow is not in a coherent stream, but is circling the white dwarf, possibly as a ring of denser, diamagnetic blobs. We discuss the light this sheds on disc formation in intermediate polars.

10 pages, 12 figures, To appear in MNRAS, includes low-res figures to reduce size

Cited by in corpus (26)

• 20-100 keV properties of cataclysmic variables detected in the INTEGRAL/IBIS survey
• Why do some intermediate polars show soft X-ray emission? A survey of XMM-Newton spectra
• Hard X-ray properties of magnetic cataclysmic variables
• BeppoSAX observations of soft X-ray Intermediate Polars
• X-ray Orbital Modulations in Intermediate Polars
• Face-on, stream-fed intermediate polars: an alternative model for RX J1914.4+2456 and RX J0806.3+1527
• Aperiodic optical variability of intermediate polars - cataclysmic variables with truncated accretion disks
• The Rise and Fall of the King: The Correlation between FO Aquarii's Low States and the White Dwarf's Spindown
• GEMINI spectroscopy of the ultra-compact binary candidate V407 Vul
• Quasi-periodic oscillations in the TESS light curve of TX Col, a diskless intermediate polar on the precipice of forming an accretion disk
• On the accretion mode of the intermediate polar V1025 Centauri
• The changing accretion states of the intermediate polar MU Camelopardalis
• X-ray observations of FO Aqr during the 2016 low state
• CC Sculptoris: A superhumping intermediate polar
• The Magnetospheric Boundary in Cataclysmic Variables
• The disappearance and reformation of the accretion disc during a low state of FO Aquarii
• Optical spectra of FO Aquarii during low and high accretion rates
• An extensive photometric study of the recently discovered intermediate polar V647 Aur (1RXS J063631.9+353537)
• Identifying a new intermediate-polar using XMM-Newton and INTEGRAL
• Searching for Diamagnetic Blob Accretion in the 74 day K2 Observation of V2400 Ophiuchi
• J1832.4-1627, the first eclipsing stream-fed intermediate polar
• The periods of the intermediate polar RX J0153.3+7446
• Stream-field interactions in the magnetic accretor AO Piscium
• Disc-Magnetosphere interactions in Cataclysmic Variable Stars
• UGPS J194310+183851: an Unusual Optical and X-ray Faint Cataclysmic Variable?
• Investigating the low-flux states in six Intermediate Polars