The Rotation Rates of White Dwarfs and Pulsars

Abstract

We examine the question of why the white dwarfs in dwarf nova systems are found to be rotating much more slowly than expected. We propose a model in which the accreted angular momentum is removed during nova outbursts. We find that the efficiency of transport of angular momentum between the white dwarf and the extended nova envelope is rather low. We show that in using the same efficiency for the core-envelope coupling in giant stars we can explain the initial spins of pulsars.