Efficiency of ETV diagrams as diagnostic tools for long-term period variations: II. Non-conservative mass transfer, and gravitational radiation

The credibility of an eclipse timing variation (ETV) diagram analysis is investigated for various manifestations of the mass transfer and gravitational radiation processes in binary systems. Our primary objective concerns the traceability of each physical mechanism by means of an ETV diagram analysis The j-p relation that governs the orbital evolution of a binary system is set to provide the exact solution for the period and the function expected to represent the subsequent eclipse timing variations. The monotonicity of the period variations and the curvature of the respective ETV diagrams depend strongly on the accretion mode and the degree of conservatism of the transfer process. It is further shown that escape of mass via the L3 point - when the donor is the less massive component - safely provides critical mass ratios above which the period is expected to decrease, no matter how intense the process is.