Abstract

Superhumps are a photometric modulation with period a few percent longer than the orbital period, which manifest in extreme mass ratio systems: in short orbital period cataclysmic variables (CVs) and in black hole X‐ray transients (BHXRTs). Superhumps are attributed to the interaction of an eccentric, precessing accretion disc with the donor star. The eccentricity is induced by a 3:1 resonance between the donor star and fluid orbits in the disc. We present a comprehensive investigation using high resolution 3D smoothed particle hydrodynamic simulation (SPH), guided by and compared with both theory and observation. We examine the relation between the superhump period excess over the orbital period and system mass ratio. Our work yields a much improved match to observation. Our simulations reveal the emptying of the disc caused by a tidally enhanced dissipation rate at the onset of the eccentric resonance. It is this which empties the disc during superoutbursts of SUUMa stars and BHXRTs.

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