No CrossRef data available.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 April 2016
The disks referred to in the title of this paper are specifically those present in cataclysmic variables in which the accreting white dwarf has a relatively weak magnetic field (≪ 1 MG). Such systems are classified either as nova-like variables or as dwarf novae, and are of interest here because they are believed to be novae in quiescence (Ritter and Livio discuss this point elsewhere in this volume).
This review aims to do two things: i) to summarise what has been learned about the winds associated with non-magnetic cataclysmic variables both from observation and from numerical modelling, and ii) to outline ideas about the nature of the mass loss mechanism. By contrast with the certainty that nova outflows are the consequence of thermonuclear runaway, it shall be seen that the fundamental cause of mass loss from cataclysmic variables remains obscure. An earlier review of this subject is by Cordova and Howarth (1986). Also of interest are some sections of the monograph on dwarf novae and nova-like variables by LaDous (1989).