Precessing warped discs in close binary systems

Abstract

We describe some recent nonlinear three dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of accretion discs in binary systems where the orbit is circular and not necessarily coplanar with the disc midplane. The calculations are relevant to a number of observed astrophysical phenomena, including the precession of jets associated with young stars, the high spectral index of some T Tauri stars, and the light curves of X-ray binaries such as Hercules X-1 which suggest the presence of precessing accretion discs.