Nonradial Pulsations in Classical Pulsators

Abstract

Recent analyses of photometric data on globular clusters and galaxies enabled us to study more closely the long-periodic amplitude/phase modulation (Blazhko effect) in classical variables. In the frequency spectra of these stars we see either a doublet or an equally-spaced triplet with a very small frequency separation close to the main component. None of the available theoretical models are able to explain this behavior without invoking some form of nonradial pulsation. In this review we describe the observational status of the Blazhko variables, and discuss the limits of the applicability of the current models to these stars.