Cataclysmic variable production in globular clusters

We consider the production of cataclysmic variables (CVs) in globular clusters. We investigate whether the binaries that would produce CVs in the field are likely to contribute to the CV population in globular clusters. We find that such potential CVs (PCVs) are unlikely to survive if they reside in the core of a cluster. However, in a number of globular clusters, the relaxation time is sufficiently long that a fraction of the binaries will not have time to sink into the core. Further, for binaries only marginally heavier than 1 M., the relaxed distribution will be such that a fraction of the systems will remain outside of the core and thus survive to produce a CV. We therefore conclude that the contribution of PCVs to CV production in globulars may be significant. Such systems will be found in the cluster halo while those produced via tidal capture and from interactions between binaries and single stars are more likely to be found in the core. Observations of the distribution of CVs within a particular globular cluster will therefore indicate the relative efficiency of these different pathways to CV production.