We present HST spectroscopy for 45 cataclysmic variables (CVs), observed with HST/COS and HST/STIS. For 36 CVs, the white dwarf is recognisable through its broad Ly α absorption profile and we measure the white dwarf effective temperatures (T eff ) by fitting the HST data assuming log g = 8.35, which corresponds to the average mass for CV white dwarfs ( 0.8 M ). Our results nearly double the number of CV white dwarfs with an accurate temperature measurement. We find that CVs above the period gap have, on average, higher temperatures ( T eff 23 000 K) and exhibit much more scatter compared to those below the gap ( T eff 15 000 K). While this behaviour broadly agrees with theoretical predictions, some discrepancies are present: (i) all our new measurements above the gap are characterized by lower temperatures (T eff 16 000-26 000 K) than predicted by the present-day CV population models (T eff 38 000-43 000 K); (ii) our results below the gap are not clustered in the predicted narrow track and exhibit in particular a relatively large spread near the period minimum, which may point to some shortcomings in the CV evolutionary models. Finally, in the standard model of CV evolution, reaching the minimum period, CVs are expected to evolve back towards longer periods with mean accretion ratesṀ 2 × 10 −11 M yr −1 , corresponding to T eff 11 500 K. We do not unambiguously identify any such system in our survey, suggesting that this major component of the predicted CV population still remains elusive to observations.

The unique binary AR Scorpii consists of an asynchronously rotating, magnetized white dwarf (WD) that interacts with its red-dwarf companion to produce a large-amplitude, highly coherent pulsation every 1.97 minutes. Over the course of two years, we obtained thirty-nine hours of time-resolved, optical photometry of AR Sco at a typical cadence of 5 seconds to study this pulsation. We find that it undergoes significant changes across the binary orbital period and that its amplitude, phase, and waveform all vary as a function of orbital phase. We show that these variations can be explained by constructive and destructive interference between two periodic, double-peaked signals: the spin-orbit beat pulse, and a weaker WD spin pulse. Modelling of the light curve indicates that in the optical, the amplitude of the primary spin pulse is 50% of the primary beat amplitude, while the secondary maxima of the beat and spin pulses have similar amplitudes. Finally, we use our timings of the beat pulses to confirm the presence of the disputed spin-down of the WD. We measure a beat-frequency derivative ofν = (−5.14 ± 0.32) × 10 −17 Hz s −1 and show that this is attributable to the spin-down of the WD. This value is approximately twice as large as the estimate from Marsh et al. (2016) but is nevertheless consistent with the constraints established in Potter & Buckley (2018). Our precise measurement of the spin-down rate confirms that the decaying rotational energy of the magnetized white dwarf is sufficient to power the excess electromagnetic radiation emitted by the binary.

The TESS spacecraft observed the asynchronous polar CD Ind at a two-minute cadence almost continuously for 28 days in 2018, covering parts of 5 consecutive cycles of the system's 7.3-day beat period. These observations provide the first uninterrupted photometry of a full spin-orbit beat cycle of an asynchronous polar. Twice per beat cycle, the accretion flow switched between magnetic poles on the white dwarf, causing the spin pulse of the white dwarf (WD) to alternate between two waveforms after each pole-switch. An analysis of the waveforms suggests that one accretion region is continuously visible when it is active, while the other region experiences lengthy self-eclipses by the white dwarf. We argue that the previously accepted periods for both the binary orbit and the WD spin have been misidentified, and while the cause of this misidentification is a subtle and easily overlooked effect, it has profound consequences for the interpretation of the system's accretion geometry and doubles the estimated time to resynchronization. Moreover, our timings of the photometric maxima do not agree with the quadratic ephemeris from Myers et al. (2017), and it is possible that the optical spin pulse might be an unreliable indicator of the white dwarf's rotation. Finally, we use Doppler tomography of archival time-resolved spectra from 2006 to study the accretion flow. While the accretion flow showed a wider azimuthal extent than is typical for synchronous polars, it was significantly less extended than in the three other asynchronous polars for which Doppler tomography has been reported.

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