Through the use of accreting binary systems, it is possible to study the effects of the deposition of matter and energy on the surface of a white dwarf. The observed atmospheric properties of composition and temperature obtained from direct observation of the spectral lines and the continuum flux can be used to compare with those of single white dwarfs to understand the consequences of mass accretion on binary evolution.

Cataclysmic variables provide one of the best targets for this type of study because a) the primaries are all white dwarfs b) the level and the timescale of the accretion cover a large range from the high rate, relatively steady novalike accretors to the dwarf novae systems which are modulated on short timescales in a quasi-periodic manner. Unfortunately, due to the mass transfer process, an accretion disk builds up to the point where its radiation overwhelms the white dwarf light in most cases. Thus, to study the effects on the stellar primary, systems must be found which have low mass transfer rates (generally the short orbital period systems (Patterson 1984)) and/or high inclinations (since most of the disk flux emerges perpendicular to the plane of the disk). The best identification of the white dwarf emerges from IUE spectra which show a broad Lyman α absorption profile (in contrast to the normal emission lines from a disk at quiescence). The shape of this profile provides a sensitive indicator of the temperature and gravity. In some cases, broad absorption lines are also evident in the optical Balmer lines, although the broad emission lines from the disk usually make these difficult to detect. The steeply falling flux distribution of a white dwarf throughout the optical region, combined with a flat disk distribution usually means that the white dwarf contributes a minor amount to the optical flux. However, in the ultraviolet, the rising energy distribution of the white dwarf easily dominates the falling energy distribution of a low accretion rate disk (Mateo and Szkody 1984). White dwarfs are generally acknowledged to be prominent in the dwarf novae U Gem (Panek and Holm 1984), VW Hyi (Mateo and Szkody 1984) and Z Cha (Marsh, Horne and Shipman 1987) and suggested in EK TrA and WZ Sge (Verbunt 1987). In addition, the white dwarf has been seen in some novalike systems which sporadically turn off their mass transfer, (resulting in the disappearance of most of the disk and the resulting appearance of the white dwarf). This has been the case in TT Ari (Shafter et al. 1985) and some limits have been determined for MV Lyr (Szkody and Downes 1982) and V794 Aql (Szkody, Downes and Mateo 1988). Several magnetic white dwarfs have also been seen when the mass transfer ceases in the AM Her systems (summarized in Szkody, Downes and Mateo 1988).