Transient accretion disk in the short-period Algol system TZ Eridani

The short-period Algol system TZ Eri was observed spectroscopically during 10 eclipses in order to study the accretion disk surrounding the primary star. It is shown that this disk belongs to the class of transient accretion disks which are produced by a collision of the gas stream with the mass-gaining star. Even without known system parameters, it can be shown that the emission lines are broadened by mechanisms other than disk rotation and that it is unlikely that the rotational velocity field is Keplerian. Comparisons are made with the transient disk systems RW Tau and U Cep. 19 references