FITDisk : A cataclysmic variable accretion disk demonstration tool

We present the software tool FITDisk, a precompiled-binary Windows graphical user interface version of our smoothed particle hydrodynamics research code for cataclysmic variable accretion disks. Cataclysmic variables are binary star systems in which a compact stellar remnant, typically a white dwarf star, is stripping mass from a lower main-sequence companion star by way of an accretion disk. Typically, the disk is the brightest component of the system, because the plasma is heated dramatically as it spirals down in the gravitational well of the primary white dwarf star. The shortest-period systems can display disk "superhump" oscillations driven by the rotating tidal field of the secondary star. FITDisk models these accretion disk phenomena using a fully three-dimensional hydrodynamics calculation, and data can be visualized as they are computed or stored to hard drive for later playback at a fast frame rate. Simulations are visualized using OpenGL graphics, and the viewing angle can be changed interactively. Pseudo-light curves of simulated systems can be plotted along with the associated Fourier amplitude spectrum. FITDisk is available for free and can be downloaded from the Florida Institute of Technology Web site.