Abstract
ABSTRACTSome cataclysmic binaries may be products of Case C evolution of low mass stars (orbital period ~ 1 yr; masses ~ 1 - 4 Mʘ), involving a common envelope phase. Other mechanisms, probably involving late Case B and even early Case B, but with significant loss of angular momentum, may be necessary to account for some evolved binaries such as AA Dor or V Sge. Further angular momentum loss, probably by magnetic braking coupled with tidal friction, causes secular evolution in cataclysmic binaries. It is suggested that tidal friction may account for the shortage of cataclysmics with periods ≲ 1.3 hr; but this cutoff, as well as the gap in the period distribution between 2 and 3 hrs, is hard to explain and imposes more severe constraints on possible theories than is commonly acknowledged.
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