Simultaneous optical and TeV gamma-ray observations of the cataclysmic variable AE Aquarii

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Abstract

In this paper we report on findings of simultaneous optical and TeV gamma-ray observations (eight nights, 32 hr in total) of the magnetic cataclysmic variable AE Aquarii which contains the most rapidly spinning white dwarf (P = 33.08 sec) known to date. The combined results of all the TeV observations (1992 July-1993 June) independently confirm previously identified optical and TeV gamma-ray periodicities at the 10-3 level without any period search, and confirm the finding that the observed duty cycle of these periodicities is approximately 10%. The strongest TeV signal appeared to be confined to the time just before the onset of a strong optical flare. The observed pulsar-like spindown of the white dwarf would push the accretion disk outside the the corotation radius, which gives a natural explanation of why the observed optical TeV gamma-ray periodicities are slightly redshifted relative to the spin period. Following an optical flare, we observed two rapid bursts (approximately 1-3 minutes duration) with three independent telescopes, within 25 minutes of each other. The significance of the largest burst was 4.6 sigma per minute. The probability of finding two such bursts given all the trials is 5.3 x 10-4. The observed spin-down power (Omega d Omega/dt approximately 6 x 1033 ergs/s) may account for the energy released by a TeV accelerator in AE Aquarii.

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