X-Ray Emission from Magnetic Cataclysmic Variables and White Dwarf Mass Estimates

Abstract

We have calculated the temperature and density structures of the postshock regions in accreting magnetic white dwarfs and deduced the related X-ray emission. Our calculations show that the X-rays from structured postshock regions with strong magnetic fields are significantly softer than the X-rays from model emission regions, which are assumed to be homogeneous. Inclusion of these effects, and an improved mass-radius relation for white dwarfs, leads to higher white dwarf masses than estimated by Ishida in his recent work.