Eclipses of accretion disc winds in cataclysmic variables : an atlas of theoretical CIV line profiles and line flux light curves

Abstract

A grid of simulated eclipses of the wind-formed CIV resonance line in high-state, non-magnetic cataclysmic variables is presented. On this, trends in pre- and mid-eclipse line profiles and also in the light curves of different parts of the line are explored. We model the outflow as a rotating, biconical accretion disc wind and use the following three variables to define the model grid:(i) the geometry (collimation) of the outflow;(ii) the wind kinematics (its poloidal velocity law);(iii) the viewing angle with respect to the disc plane. The most important trends in our results are discussed and shown to be consistent with expectations based on the physics of radiative transfer in outflowing, multidimensional media. It is also stressed, however, that the complexity of the line formation process is such that knowledge of basic trends alone is insufficient to draw secure conclusions about such outflows immediately from observations. The results presented here will therefore be most usefully employed in direct comparisons with observational data.