Speaker
Description
I present the first volume-limited surveys of accreting compact binaries made possible through an SRG/eROSITA + Gaia crossmatch. In addition to SRG/eROSITA and Gaia data, I have made use of the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), which has collected optical photometry down to 21 mag across the entire Northern sky for six years.I will primarily focus on cataclysmic variables, which are the most abundant accreting compact binaries in the Milky Way. In addition, I will discuss the ultracompact binary population of accreting white dwarfs known as AM CVns, the most compact of which will be the strongest sources seen in gravitational waves by LISA.I derive space densities of CVs and AM CVns similar to those of the past, but using a single survey technique, which has been nearly impossible to do before. These results blatantly highlight the discrepancy between theory and observations of both CV and AM CVn populations, showing the need for updated evolutionary tracks and population synthesis calculations. New relationships in orbital periods, X-ray luminosity, white dwarf spin periods, and variability are emerging, which will inform our current understanding of binary star evolution in ways not seen before.
