Abstract
We present a simple quantitative model that can describe the photometric B and V band light curves of AM Herculis obtained during a high state. The double-humped shape of the V band light curve is dominated by cyclotron emission from a region at the main accreting pole with an area of ~$5\times10^{16} \mathrm{cm^2}$ and sustaining an inflow of ~0.06 $\rm g cm^{-2} s^{-1}$. The almost unmodulated B band is dominated by emission from the accretion stream. The contribution of the heated white dwarf to the optical emission is small in the B band, but comparable to that of the accretion stream in the V band. The emission of the secondary star is negligible both in B and in V .
Highlights
In AM Herculis stars, or polars, a strongly magnetic white dwarf (B >∼ 10 MG) accretes from a Roche-lobe filling late type secondary star
We present a simple quantitative model that can describe the photometric B and V band light curves of AM Herculis obtained during a high state
In this paper we develop a simple quantitative model which takes into account the various emission sites in AM Herculis, and which can quantitatively describe the observed B and V band high state light curves with a minimum of free parameters
Summary
In AM Herculis stars, or polars, a strongly magnetic white dwarf (B >∼ 10 MG) accretes from a Roche-lobe filling late type secondary star. For high mass flow densities (m > 10 g cm−2 s−1), the shock is submerged in the white dwarf atmosphere, and the primary accretion luminosity is reprocessed into the soft X-ray regime. The emission of polars is strongly modulated at the orbital period in almost all wavelength bands. While the shape of the hard X-ray light curve of AM Herculis (and most other polars) can be interpreted in terms of the changing geometric aspect of the hot plasma below the shock, the optical through infrared emission may show a more complicated. In this paper we develop a simple quantitative model which takes into account the various emission sites in AM Herculis, and which can quantitatively describe the observed B and V band high state light curves with a minimum of free parameters
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