Events in Physics

Do all accreting white dwarfs launch jets?

All classes of accreting black holes and neutron stars have been shown to launch jets or collimated outflows. This is currently not considered to be true for all accreting white dwarfs. Although it has been firmly established that Super Soft Sources launch jets, until recently it was accepted that Cataclysmic Variable stars (CVs) do not. This is no longer the case, as a previous study has found evidence of a jet in the CV SS Cyg.

I show that SS Cyg is not unique. Using the Very Large Array, we have shown that CVs in the high-state are significant radio emitters, and have also obtained radio light curves for 5 CVs in outburst - this has previously only been done for SS Cyg. This work has tripled the number of radio-detected CVs and has provided a means to search for jets in CVs, as radio emission is the best tracer for jets and outflows. A previous study has predicted the timing and behaviour of radio emission associated with jets in CVs, based on a comparison to the state changes in X-ray Binaries. I will discuss whether our radio light curves show this behaviour, and consequently whether CVs launch jets.