Evolution of Magnetic Cataclysmic Binaries

Abstract

More than a third of all cataclysmic variables (CV’s) with established binary periods contain strongly magnetic degenerate dwarfs (Ritter 1985). The history of the manner in which the magnetic character of these systems was established suggests that many more CV’s—perhaps most—are magnetic. By comparison, only ≈ 2% of isolated degenerate dwarfs are magnetic (Angel, Borra, and Landstreet 1981; Schmidt and Liebert 1986). The magnetic CV’s divide naturally into two subclasses: the DQ Herculis stars (recently reviewed by Warner 1983, 1985) and the AM Herculis stars (recently reviewed by Liebert and Stockman 1985). Each subclass currently has about a dozen members.