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# The Component Star Masses in RW Tri

## 1 Introduction

RW Tri is an eclipsing nova-like cataclysmic variable (CV) system with an orbital period of 5 hours 34 mins. Nova-like systems contain a non-magnetic white dwarf primary and a late type (K-M) secondary star that fills its Roche lobe, transferring mass to the white dwarf via an accretion disc.

Since first being observed as an eclipsing variable (Protitch 1937) multi-wavelength studies of RW Tri have provided much insight into the system, but have yet to yield an accurate measurement of the masses of the two component stars. By observing the velocities of the component stars, their masses can be calculated using Kepler’s laws. A number of authors have attempted to measure the radial velocity of the white dwarf (e.g. Kaitchuck et al. 1983, Still et al. 1995 and Mason et al. 2002), but thus far little work has been done on the secondary star.

Measurement of the secondary star velocity is hampered by the large contrast in optical brightness between it and the accretion disk. Weak secondary star absorption features were detected in the I-band spectrum of RW Tri by Friend et al. (1988), and later used by Smith et al. (1993) to estimate the secondary star velocity as $`250`$km/s using a ‘skew-mapping’ technique (cf. Smith et al. 1998a). Dhillon et al. (2000) have detected secondary star features in low-resolution K-band spectra of RW Tri. The relative contribution of the secondary star is higher in the K-band and the equivalent width of the absorption features greater as a consequence.

In this paper we report phase-resolved spectral observations of RW Tri in the K-band, covering the binary orbit. We use these observations to determine the radial velocity of the secondary star in RW Tri. We also re-analyse the original I-band spectra of Smith et al. (1993). Based on these results we revisit the mass ratio and the masses of the component stars in RW Tri and discuss their implications.

## 2 I-band Data

We have re-analysed the RW Tri near I-band data of Smith et al. (1993) using the back-projection routines in the software package MOLLY written by Tom Marsh (see also Vande Putte et al. 2002), combined with a Monte Carlo error analysis. We use the method of ‘skew-mapping’ (Smith et al. 1993) in which the orbital phase-resolved data are corrected for a trial orbital velocity amplitude and phase, and compared to the spectrum of a standard ‘template’ star. The degree of correlation between the summed corrected spectrum and the template is computed for a grid of velocity amplitudes and phases to produce the skew map. This method is useful when the spectral features of the secondary are too weak to produce significant cross correlation peaks using individual spectra.

The I-band spectra were obtained using the Isaac Newton Telescope (INT) on La Palma, and the 831R grating, giving a wavelength coverage of 7700Å - 8300Å. This range includes the Na I absorption doublet feature ($`\lambda `$8183.3Å, $`\lambda `$8194.8Å) that is expected in the spectrum of a late-type star. A total of 27 spectra were taken over two nights spanning the full orbital cycle: 19 spectra were taken on the 2nd September 1985, and 8 spectra were taken on 3rd September 1985. The ephemeris of Robinson et al. (1991) was used to phase the spectra. A range of 7 template stars of spectral type K5-M1.5 were taken from Martin (1988), the details of which are given in Table 1. Template and RW Tri spectra were normalised by dividing by a low-order spline fit to the respective continuum.

A range of skew maps with total systemic velocities (RW Tri $`+`$ template) from $`50`$km/s to $`50`$km/s, were produced for each template. A mask between 7760Å and 7800Å was used to remove the accretion disc absorption feature of neutral oxygen at 7774Å (Friend et al. 1988). The skew map with the strongest peak was found using the M0 template Gl 281, with a RW Tri systemic velocity of -13 km/s and secondary velocity amplitude of 250km/s. Patterson (1984) estimated the secondary star of RW Tri to be of spectral type M0, based on the empirical zero-age main-sequence (ZAMS) mass-radius relation. Our result is also consistent with the statistical prediction of K9 $`\pm `$ 3 by Smith & Dhillon (1998b). The other M0 template (Gl 383 - Table 1) and the M0- template (Gl 488 - Table 1), produce skew maps with $`K_2`$ of 259 km/s and 255 km/s respectively, consistent with the result for template Gl 281.

A Monte Carlo simulation was used to calculate the error on the skew map results. The noise level on the normalised RW Tri spectra was used as a seed to generate normally-distributed random numbers that were added to the RW Tri spectra. In this way 150 skew maps were produced and the distribution of peak velocity values was measured to derive an error. Each trial was weighted with the line integral intensity of its respective map in computing the standard deviation of the resulting distribution. In this way, we determine that the best fit skew map (Figure 1) has a secondary velocity amplitude of $`K_2=250\pm 47`$ km/s.

Vande Putte et al. (2002) have obtained results using the same set of RW Tri data but a different set of templates ranging from K5-M4.5. They find a best fit using the M1 template Gl 514 and $`K_2=263\pm 30`$ km/s with a systemic velocity of $`11\pm 15`$km/s agreeing with our results within error. The differences between their value of $`K_2`$ and ours (which is within the respective errors) can be ascribed to the different set of templates used, and is a measure of the systematic uncertainty.

## 3 K-Band Data

The secondary star only contributes $``$10% of the flux in the I-band, compared to an estimated $``$65% in the K-band (Dhillon et al. 2000), so we would expect to see secondary star absorption features more easily at longer wavelengths. Absorption features due to the secondary star have been observed in the K-band spectrum of RW Tri by Dhillon et al. (2000) at low spectral resolution, which motivated us to investigate whether we could use these features to measure the secondary star velocity directly using a standard cross correlation technique.

### 3.1 Observations

Observations of RW Tri were made in the K-band on the 6th and 7th August 2000 using CGS4 on the United Kingdom Infra-Red Telescope (UKIRT). The 150 line/mm grating gives us a spectral resolution of 100km/s at 2.2$`\mu `$m, and a wavelength range of $`2.200\mu `$m to $`2.275\mu `$m, enabling us to observe both the Na I and Ca I absorption lines recorded by Dhillon et al. (2000) in RW Tri. The telescope was nodded up and down the slit taking spectra at different detector positions to facilitate the removal of sky background. Summing the data from the telescope nodding positions gave a total exposure time of 600s for each RW Tri spectrum. This exposure time is equivalent to 0.03 orbital cycles which is short enough to prevent any significant smearing due to orbital effects.

A total of 35 spectra were taken of RW Tri over the two nights: 15 spectra on the first night, and 20 spectra on the second. Ten template stars in the range of spectral type K7-M2 were observed over the two nights (Table 2). Bright A-type stars of known broadband magnitudes and arc spectra were also observed through both nights, enabling us to flux and wavelength calibrate respectively. The bright A-stars also allowed us to remove telluric lines.

### 3.2 Data Reduction

Real time data reduction was undertaken at the telescope using the ORAC-DR package developed at the Joint Astronomy Centre. Bad pixels were masked and a flat field was applied to remove pixel-to-pixel variations across the array, and a bias frame was subtracted. As a result of nodding the telescope along the slit, the night sky spectrum could be accurately removed and the spectra coadded.

Bad pixels were found close to the Na I doublet feature at 22063Å and 22101Å on night 1, and 22078Å and 22116Å on night 2. The difference between the apparent wavelength of the bad pixels between the nights is due to a slight shift in the grating angle. These bad pixels were removed by interpolation.

Further data reduction was carried out using the FIGARO package. Spectra were extracted, and wavelength calibrated using the rest wavelength of arc spectra, and telluric lines were removed using the observations of A-stars. The resulting RW Tri and template spectra were flux calibrated using the A-stars, and then smoothed and rebinned on to a linear wavelength scale. The ephemeris of Robinson et al. (1991) was used to phase the data.

Figure 2 shows the normalised template spectra in order of spectral type. The Na I doublet and Ca I triplet absorption features can be clearly seen showing the quality of the data. There are no large differences in the depths of the Ca I and Na I lines between the different spectral types in this wavelength band, making it hard to distinguish between them. Figure 3 shows the individual spectra of RW Tri distributed in orbital phase. The Na I and Ca I absorption features appear to shift from spectrum to spectrum on each night. These features will be discussed further in Section 3.4. RW Tri was brighter on the second night. Figure 4 shows the average spectrum of RW Tri for each night with the scaled M0 template Gl 281.

### 3.3 The Secondary Star Velocity

The velocity of the secondary star in RW Tri was investigated by cross correlating the spectra of RW Tri with template spectra. Both sets of spectra were normalised in the same way as described for the I-band data (Section 2), and rebinned on to the same wavelength scale. Each RW Tri spectrum was cross correlated with each template spectrum in turn. The position of the cross correlation peak was then plotted against orbital phase to produce the velocity curve of the secondary star. As in skew-mapping (Section 2), the spectral template that yields the strongest cross correlation peaks is the best fit to the data. All the cross correlation templates gave similar peak values, which is what we expect as there is little variation in the relative strengths of the Na I and Ca I lines over the range of late-type stars that we used (cf Figure 2). The best fit radial velocity curve of the average cross correlation lags using all the template data is illustrated in Figure 5.

This velocity curve can be parameterised as,

$$V=\gamma +K\mathrm{sin}(2\pi (\mathrm{\Phi }\mathrm{\Phi }_o)),$$
(1)
where V is the radial velocity, $`\gamma `$ is the systemic velocity, $`K`$ is the orbital velocity amplitude, $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ is the binary orbital phase defined by the ephemeris of Robinson et al. (1991), and $`\mathrm{\Phi }_o`$ is the orbital phase of blue to red zero crossing (inferior conjunction of the secondary star). A sinusoidal curve was fitted to the velocity data using the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm in IDL; by minimising the reduced chi-squared and considering the 68.3 % (1 sigma) confidence level, a best-fit velocity and error was calculated. This gives a $`K_2=221\pm 29`$ km/s, $`\gamma =17\pm 20`$ km/s and $`\mathrm{\Phi }_o=0.040\pm 0.020`$ orbital phase. The results derived from individual template stars are listed in Table 3. These are all consistent within the errors, and consistent with the mean values listed above.

In Figure 6 we plot the velocity corrected average spectrum of RW Tri for each night, along with the scaled M0 template Gl 281. We can clearly see the Na I doublet and Ca I triplet in both nights. These features are broadened compared with the template spectra, due to the rotational velocity of the secondary star.

### 3.4 Orbital Modulation of Secondary Star Absorption Features

To search for variations in the strength of the absorption features with orbital phase, we compare the depth of the strongest features in the velocity corrected spectrum of RW Tri with the values observed in the the template star spectrum. We considered the combined regions around the Na I absorption feature (22010Å - 22140Å) and the Ca I absorption feature (22570Å - 22700Å), and mask out the rest of the spectrum. Figure 7 shows a plot of the ratio of RW Tri versus template star absorption feature deficit through the orbital cycle. There is some evidence that the secondary features are strongest near phase zero and weaker near phase 0.5. Taken at face value, this suggests that the centroid of the secondary features is shifted to the hemisphere of the secondary that faces away from the disc. Although the effect is marginal, it is in accordance with what we expect due to heating effects. The best sinusoidal fit to the data has an amplitude of $`0.27\pm 0.18`$ (solid line in Figure 7). This sinusoidal fit to the data implies that the secondary star contributes $`39\%`$ of the K-band flux at phase 0.0, while at phase 0.5 this percentage is reduced to $`15\%`$. Hence, the absorption in the hemisphere of the secondary star nearest to the primary star is $`0.4`$ times the strength of the absorption in the hemisphere facing away from the primary.

Averaged over orbital phase these results suggest that the secondary star contributes $`29\pm 13\%`$ of the K-band flux. This is considerably different from the $`65\pm 5\%`$ estimated by Dhillon et al. (2000). The AAVSO quick look light curves of RW Tri at the time of our UKIRT observations show that RW Tri was at a magnitude of V$`13`$, but during the observations of Dhillon et al. (2000) RW Tri appeared to be in a low state with a magnitude of $`13.8`$. Thus, RW Tri was approximately a factor of 2 brighter during our observations than when observed by Dhillon et al. (2000), accounting for the different estimates of the secondary star contribution. Assuming that the flux of the secondary star is constant, the accretion disc and stream in RW Tri increased by a factor of $`4`$ in brightness, between the observations of Dhillon et al. (2000) and ours.

### 3.5 Secondary Star Rotational Velocity

We noted previously that the secondary star features in RW Tri are significantly broader than in the template spectra. This is likely to be due to broadening caused by the rotation of the (phase-locked) secondary star as it orbits the white dwarf. The rotational velocity of the secondary star can be estimated by artificially broadening the template star spectrum which is assumed to have low $`V_{rot}\mathrm{sin}i`$, and fitting it to the RW Tri spectra. The continuum was removed from the RW Tri and template star spectra using a low order polynomial, after masking out strong absorption features. Each template was then artificially broadened in the velocity range $`V_{rot}\mathrm{sin}i=10200`$km/s in steps of 10km/s, assuming partial limb darkening (linear limb darkening coefficient = 0.5, North et al. 2000). These broadened template spectra were then compared with the orbital velocity corrected RW Tri spectra on each night. Residual spectra were produced by subtracting a constant times the shifted broadened template from each RW Tri spectrum; the constant was adjusted to minimise the scatter on each residual spectrum. A boxcar average smoothing was applied to the residual spectrum to eliminate any large scale structure. The reduced chi-squared ($`\chi _\nu ^2`$) was calculated between each residual and smoothed spectrum in the wavelength regions containing the Na I absorption feature (22040Å to 22108Å) and the Ca I absorption feature (22614Å to 22689Å). The average results can be seen in Figure 8 where we plot night 1 and night 2 separately, and also combined.

The best fit (minimum $`\chi _\nu ^2`$) for night 1 and 2 is obtained with $`V_{rot}\mathrm{sin}i90`$km/s and $`V_{rot}\mathrm{sin}i140`$km/s respectively (Figure 8). Based on the $`\chi _\nu ^2`$ distribution in Figure 8, we estimate a mean $`V_{rot}\mathrm{sin}i=120\pm 20`$km/s. All template stars gave the same order of Chi-squared values, confirming again that the data are not template sensitive in this wavelength band. The minimum $`\chi _\nu ^2`$ values had a range over all the templates of $`V_{rot}\mathrm{sin}i`$ from $`80100`$km/s for night 1, and $`130150`$km/s for night 2. We confirmed that the intrinsic $`V_{rot}\mathrm{sin}i`$ of each template was consistent with 0km/s, by cross correlating the templates against each other.

The analysis of the orbital radial velocity was not changed significantly when we broadened the template lines by 120km/s. This is because rotational broadening affects the profile of the absorption lines, but not the position of the line centroids which govern the cross correlation peak positions.

## 4 Discussion

To calculate the masses of the two component stars in the system we can use the mass ratio ($`q`$),

$$q=\frac{K_1}{K_2}=\frac{M_2}{M_1},$$
(2)
where $`K_1`$ and $`K_2`$ are the radial velocity amplitudes of the primary and secondary stars respectively, and $`M_1`$ and $`M_2`$ are the primary and secondary masses respectively.

### 4.1 Primary Star Velocity Measurements

There have been a number of different estimates of $`K_1`$ based on measurements of the optical emission lines in RW Tri and these have yielded a range of values. Doppler maps of RW Tri (Kaitchuck et al. 1983) indicate that the He II $`\lambda `$4686Å emission arises from the inner accretion disc region, He I $`\lambda `$4471Å emission is found further out in the accretion disc, and H$`\beta `$ and H$`\gamma `$ emission originates from the outer regions of the accretion disc and the inner face of the secondary star.

Still et al. (1995) measured the emission line centroids and obtained $`K_1`$ values of $`208\pm 8`$ km/s from H$`\beta `$, $`223\pm 11`$ km/s from H$`\alpha `$, and $`216\pm 9`$ km/s from He II ($`\lambda `$4686Å). The He II measurement of Still et al. (1995) is consistent with the $`197\pm 20`$ km/s measured by Kaitchuck et al. (1983), who also found a $`K_1`$ velocity of $`170\pm 20`$ km/s for He I. Still et al. (1995) also used the convolution technique of Schneider & Young (1980) to measure the wings of the H$`\beta `$, H$`\gamma `$ and He II emission lines. The line wings, which come from high velocity gas in the inner disk, are in principle more likely to reflect the motion of the white dwarf than the line cores. The latter may well be contaminated by emission from the secondary star, the accretion stream, and the bright spot. However, Still et al. found that the measured velocities for the emission line wings in RW Tri were inconsistent with the velocities obtained from Doppler maps. These inconsistencies could be due to absorption affecting the wings of the accretion disc emission lines.

Recently HST data have been used to measure the velocity of narrow absorption features in the UV. Mason et al. (in prep.) detected velocity shifts in the UV absorption lines and found they had the same orbital phase as that expected for the white dwarf. The lines appear to originate in a layer above the inner accretion disk, and their motion may therefore mirror that of the white dwarf. By cross correlating the average spectrum through the orbital cycle they find $`K_1=296\pm 5`$ km/s.

### 4.2 Effects on the Secondary Star Radial Velocity Amplitude

The apparent value of $`K_2`$ may be modified by heating, line-quenching, and line contamination (Friend et al. 1990). Heating of the secondary star occurs due to hard photons from the accretion disc. Line quenching occurs due to the ionisation of the absorption lines by flux from the disc. Both irradiation and line quenching can deplete the absorption line strength on the surface of the secondary star that faces the accretion disc, and shift the apparent centroid of the absorption line region to the hemisphere facing away from the disc. This would lead to an over estimate of the $`K_2`$ value. The magnitude of this effect may be reduced however if the accretion disk has a thick rim which shields the secondary. This appears to be the case in RW Tri (Mason, Drew & Knigge 1997). Line contamination may occur due to weak disc features. This could lead to variations in the line strengths of the absorption through the orbit.

To account for these effects, Wade & Horne (1988) estimated the likely correction required for the radial velocity amplitude of the secondary star. This “K-correction” is given by,

$$\mathrm{\Delta }K=\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }R}{a_2}K_2=\frac{fR_2}{a_2}K_2,$$
(3)
where $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$R is the displacement between the effective centre and the centre of mass of the secondary star, $`R_2`$ is the secondary star radius, $`|f|<`$1 is a weighting factor representing the strength of the absorption feature, and $`a_2`$ is the distance of the centre of mass of the secondary star from the centre of mass of the system given by,

$$a_2=\frac{a}{1+q},$$
(4)
where $`a`$ is the separation of the component stars and $`q`$ is the mass ratio ($`q=M_2/M_1`$).

To estimate the K correction, we use $`f=4/5\pi 0.25`$ where the front hemisphere of the secondary star has $`0.4`$ of the absorption of the back hemisphere. This is based on the measured change in the amplitude of the absorption features with orbital phase (Section 3.4). Each hemisphere is assumed to have uniform absorption, and we relate $`R_2/a`$ to the mass ratio $`q`$ using

$$\frac{R_2}{a}=\frac{0.49q^{2/3}}{0.6q^{2/3}+\mathrm{ln}(1+q^{1/3})}$$
(5)
(Eggleton, 1983).

### 4.3 Mass Ratio Theory

Consider the conservative mass transfer equation,

$$\frac{\dot{R_L}}{R_L}=\frac{2\dot{J}}{J}+\frac{2(\dot{M_2})}{M_2}\left(\frac{5}{6}q\right),$$
(6)
where RL is the radius of the Roche Lobe, $`J`$ is the orbital angular momentum, and -$`\dot{M_2}`$ is the instantaneous mass transfer rate (Frank, King & Raine 1992).

When $`q(=M_2/M_1)<5/6`$ then $`\dot{R_L}>0`$, so the Roche lobe expands, reducing the mass transfer, and the system is stable. In order to sustain long lived mass transfer the secondary star must expand in size relative to the Roche lobe, otherwise the lobes detach from the star and mass transfer stops. Evolution of the secondary star is one possibility, but for the secondary to evolve within the age of the Galaxy, it must be spectral type G0 or earlier (Patterson 1984). Most CV secondaries have spectral types later than G0, so a more likely solution for stable mass transfer is angular momentum loss due to either gravitational radiation and/or magnetic braking. The loss of angular momentum shrinks the binary system therefore enabling sustained mass transfer to occur.

When $`q>5/6`$ then $`\dot{R_L}<0`$, and the Roche lobe shrinks. Mass transfer will therefore increase, and the system will become unstable unless the secondary star can contract rapidly enough to keep its radius smaller than the radius of the Roche lobe. If the secondary star obeys the main sequence mass-radius relation $`R_2M_2`$, and the radius of the star responds to changes in its mass on a thermal time scale, Equation 6 becomes,

$$\frac{\dot{J}}{J}=\frac{\dot{M}_2}{M_2}\left(\frac{4}{3}q\right),$$
(7)
yielding a critical upper mass ratio ($`q_{crit}`$). When $`q>4/3`$ the secondary star will not shrink rapidly enough to keep pace with the Roche lobe. There will be a spontaneous overflow and mass transfer becomes unstable.

The secondary star in a CV is a late type low mass star with a deep convective envelope, and therefore loses mass on a dynamical time scale governed by the star’s adiabatic response. Considering a complete polytrope with a polytropic index of $`n=3/2`$ (Hjellming & Webbink 1987), the mass-radius relation for the secondary star becomes $`R_2M_2^{1/3}`$, and hence Equation 6 becomes,

$$\frac{\dot{J}}{J}=\frac{\dot{M}_2}{M_2}\left(\frac{2}{3}q\right),$$
(8)
producing a lower mass ratio limit ($`q_{ad,fc}`$). When $`q>2/3`$ the star can not remain within its Roche lobe in hydrostatic equilibrium, and mass transfer occurs on dynamical time scales. When $`q<2/3`$, the star becomes stable on a dynamical time scale and mass transfer occurs due to the slow expansion of the star via nuclear evolution or angular momentum loss causing the Roche lobe to contract.

The secondary star in RW Tri may not be fully convective so the true adiabatic mass ratio will be higher. In the case where the secondary star has a convective envelope, but a radiative core, the mass-radius relation becomes $`R_2M_2^{1/3}`$, leading to a mass ratio of $`q_{ad,rc}=1`$ for the adiabatic response (Hjellming & Webbink 1987).

### 4.4 Mass Ratio

We first calculate the mass ratio of RW Tri using the various estimates of the component star radial velocity amplitudes. The most reliable estimate for the secondary star velocity is from the K-band data because there is not enough detail in the I-band data to be sure that they are not affected by telluric lines and background emission etc. When combined with the K-band secondary star velocity ($`221\pm 29`$km/s), the various estimates of the primary star velocity amplitude discussed in Section 4.1 lead to a range of mass ratios of $`0.81.3`$ as expressed in Table 4 (column 4).

The $`K_1`$ velocity values that a priori are most likely to reflect the motion of the white dwarf are the UV absorption lines of Mason et al. (2002), and the He II emission lines of Still et al. (1995), because they both originate in regions close to the white dwarf. These velocities therefore give us a ‘most likely’ mass ratio in the range $`1.01.3`$. To consider the effects of the “K-correction” on our most likely mass ratio range, we use Equation 3 and 5, and $`f0.25`$ with $`q=1.01.3`$, which corresponds to a range in $`\mathrm{\Delta }K`$ of $`19\%`$ to $`24\%`$. Thus after applying the most likely value for the secondary star heating the value of $`K_2`$ in RW Tri is $`178`$km/s, implying a revised mass ratio, $`q`$, in the range $`1.21.7`$ (Table 4, column 5).

Alternatively we can calculate the mass ratio of RW Tri using the rotational broadening of the secondary star, independent of $`K_1`$. Assuming that the secondary star rotates in phase with the binary orbit we use,

$$\frac{K_2}{V_{rot}\mathrm{sin}i}=\left[(1+q)\left(\frac{R_2}{a}\right)\right]^1$$
(9)
where $`R_2/a`$ is found using Equation 5. The results are shown in Figure 9 where the solid line represents the $`K_2`$ values implied by $`V_{rot}\mathrm{sin}i=120`$km/s (from Section 3.6) as a function of mass ratio between $`q=0.2`$ and $`q=2.0`$. The dotted lines show the effects of changing $`V_{rot}\mathrm{sin}i`$ by $`\pm 20`$km/s. The dashed lines in Figure 9 represent the K-corrected secondary star velocity as a function of the mass ratio, for the cases $`\mathrm{\Delta }K=0\%`$ and $`\mathrm{\Delta }K=24\%`$. We find a self-consistent value of $`q`$ in the range $`0.50.8`$ when no correction for possible heating effects is applied ($`\mathrm{\Delta }K=0\%`$). This does not agree with the mass ratio range derived for either He II or UV $`K_1`$ velocities, which are indicated in Figure 9. When $`\mathrm{\Delta }K=24\%`$, the allowed mass ratio range is $`q=0.61.1`$ (Figure 9), and again does not overlap with either the He II or UV range.

This can be more clearly seen in Figure 10 where the derived values of $`q`$ are expressed as a function of $`\mathrm{\Delta }K`$. The solid black line in Figure 10 shows the mass ratio at which the $`K_2`$ value implied by $`V_{rot}\mathrm{sin}i=120`$ km/s equals the K-corrected value of $`K_2`$ (adopting an observed value of $`K_2`$ of 221 km/s). Again the dotted lines indicate the effect of changing $`V_{rot}\mathrm{sin}i`$ by $`\pm 20`$ km/s. The dashed and thick solid lines represent the mass ratio derived using the He II and UV line estimates of $`K_1`$ in combination with the K-corrected value of $`K_2`$, as a function of $`\mathrm{\Delta }K`$. Figure 10 shows that $`V_{rot}\mathrm{sin}i`$ is consistent with the He II-based mass ratio range only for $`\mathrm{\Delta }K>34\%`$, and higher still for the UV-based $`K_1`$ value (cf. our best estimate of $`\mathrm{\Delta }K24\%`$). This is greater than the we find in Section 4.2, suggesting that velocities found using the UV and He II emission lines may contain non-orbital components.

### 4.5 Masses

Using the Roche Lobe geometry, a relationship between the mass ratio ($`q`$), orbital inclination angle ($`i`$) and eclipse duration was derived by Chanan et al. (1976) and also by Horne (1993). Because the temperature of the accretion disk increases towards its centre, the UV emission of the disk will be more concentrated around the white dwarf than the optical emission. Thus an eclipse width at half light measured in the UV is likely to be a better approximation to the white dwarf eclipse duration than one measured in the optical band. Using the relationships of Chanan et al. (1976) and Horne (1993), the mass ratio, and the eclipse width at half light of $`0.077\pm 0.002`$ from the UV light curves of Mason et al. (1997), a set of inclination angles can be calculated. These inclination angles range from $`73^o`$ to $`79^o`$ for mass ratios between $`0.5`$ and $`1.1`$. Hence a range of masses for the primary and secondary stars can be derived using,

$$M_1\mathrm{sin}^3i=\frac{P_{orb}K_2}{2\pi G}[K_1+K_2]^2,$$
(10)
and,

$$M_2\mathrm{sin}^3i=\frac{P_{orb}K_1}{2\pi G}[K_1+K_2]^2.$$
(11)
The results derived using the UV and He II $`K_1`$ velocities are shown in Figure 11. Using the UV measurement, both the uncorrected and K-corrected mass ratios lie above the critical value of 4/3 (Section 4.3), in the region of the diagram where mass transfer is unstable. The upper mass for the primary star exceeds the Chandrasekhar mass limit of $`1.44M_{}`$, and the secondary star mass is also very large and inconsistent with that of a main sequence star. This reinforces our suspicions that the UV velocities contain a non-orbital component. A reduction of $`K_2`$ below the K-corrected value of 178km/s would decrease the secondary mass, but further increase the mass ratio.

Adopting instead the $`K_1`$ measurement derived from He II data, we find values of $`q`$ that broadly lie between $`q_{crit}=4/3`$ and $`q_{ad,rc}=1`$. The masses for the primary and secondary stars lie in the range of $`0.81.1M_{}`$, and $`0.91.1M_{}`$ respectively. The white dwarf mass is well within the Chandrasekhar mass limit of $`1.44M_{}`$, and includes the mean primary mass of $`0.8M_{}`$ for CV systems with $`P_{orb}>3`$ hrs (Smith & Dhillon 1998b). The lower limit for the secondary star mass, however, exceeds the predicted mass of $`0.55M_{}`$ based on the main sequence mass-radius relation for an orbital period of 5.25 hours (Echevarría 1983).

Given the evidence for a non-orbital component in the UV absorption line velocities, we cannot be certain that the optical emission line velocities are not similarly affected. If we force the secondary star mass to its equivalent main sequence value, $`0.55M_{}`$, we would predict a primary star velocity of $`152169`$km/s for $`K_2=221178`$km/s. This is closer to the $`K_1`$ value of $`170\pm 20`$km/s derived by Kaitchuck et al. (1983) from the He I emission line. The implied mass ratio for a $`K_1`$ velocity of 170km/s is in the range 0.8 ($`\mathrm{\Delta }K=0\%`$) to 1.0 ($`\mathrm{\Delta }K=24\%`$), and is consistent with the rotational velocity of the secondary that we derive (Figure 10).

Alternatively, we can obtain mass values using the combination of $`V_{rot}\mathrm{sin}i`$ and $`K_2`$ without any assumptions about $`K_1`$. Using the mass ratio values of $`0.61.1`$ for $`\mathrm{\Delta }K=24\%`$, and $`0.50.8`$ for $`\mathrm{\Delta }K=0\%`$ from Section 4.4, and assuming $`K_2`$ values of 178km/s and 221km/s respectively, the stellar masses can be calculated using Equations 210, and 11. Figure 11 shows the results. The most likely mass of the primary and secondary stars lies between $`0.40.7M_{}`$ and $`0.30.4M_{}`$ respectively for the range of $`\mathrm{\Delta }K=240\%`$, and better agree with the expected masses for the component stars in a CV. The expected value of $`K_1`$ based on these results is in the range 120-130 km/s, with an upper limit of approximately 190 km/s.

## 5 Conclusions

I-band observations of RW Tri yield a secondary star radial velocity amplitude of $`250\pm 47`$ km/s using the skew mapping technique. K-band observations of RW Tri provide us with a secondary star velocity of $`221\pm 29`$ km/s which is obtained directly from the observations without using complex mapping methods. The two velocities are consistent within the errors.

We estimate the rotational velocity of the secondary star to be $`120\pm 20`$km/s using the K-band UKIRT observations. Combining this velocity with the secondary star radial velocity corrected for non-uniform heating derived from the variation in the absorption line strengths, we find a mass ratio range of $`0.61.1`$, which contains the lower adiabatic response limit ($`q_{ad,fc}=2/3`$). The uncorrected radial velocity results lead to a mass ratio range of $`0.50.8`$.

Combining the radial velocity amplitudes of the secondary star with the radial velocity of the primary determined from He II emission lines in the optical (Still et al. 1995) and narrow absorption lines in the UV (Mason et al. in prep.), yields a range of mass ratios of $`1.01.3`$ and $`1.21.7`$ respectively, based on a range in the secondary heating correction of $`\mathrm{\Delta }K=024\%`$. The UV mass ratio range lies above the critical mass ratio ($`q_{crit}=4/3`$); this range is also inconsistent with the rotational velocity results, indicating that the UV velocity very likely includes a non-orbital component. The He II mass ratio range lies between $`q_{crit}=4/3`$ and q=5/6, but is only marginally consistent with the measured secondary rotational velocity, and may also contain a non-orbital component. By combining the data on the rotational broadening of the secondary with its measured orbital velocity, with no assumptions regarding the white dwarf velocity, we find most likely values of the primary and secondary masses that lie in the range $`0.40.7M_{}`$ and $`0.30.4M_{}`$ respectively, depending on the degree of secondary star heating. The most likely value of $`K_1`$ is predicted to be 120-130 km/s.

## Acknowledgments

We thank Paul Hirst for help with CGS4 data reduction. The United Kingdom Infra-Red Telescope is operated by the Joint Astronomy Centre on behalf of the U.K. Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council. Also thanks to Dave Vande Putte for valuable discussion on the INT data, and Tom Marsh for use of, and help with, MOLLY. In our research, we have used, and acknowledge with thanks, data from the AAVSO International Data base, based on observations submitted to the AAVSO by variable star observers worldwide. We would also like to thank the referee for a careful reading of the manuscript and useful comments.