White dwarf masses in intermediate polars observed with the Suzaku satellite

Details White dwarf masses in intermediate polars observed with the Suzaku satellite White dwarf masses in intermediate polars observed with the Suzaku satellite

2010-06-28

arxiv.org/abs/1006.5323v2

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

17 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in A&A (publication information added in version 2)

Scientific paper

Context. White dwarfs (WDs) in cataclysmic variables (CVs) are important experimental laboratories where the electron degeneracy is taking place on a macroscopic scale. Magnetic CVs increase in number especially in the hard X-ray band (>10 keV) thanks to sensitive hard X-ray missions. Aims. From X-ray spectroscopy, we estimate the masses of nearby WDs in moderately-magnetized CVs, or Intermediate Polars (IPs). Methods. Using the Suzaku satellite, we aquired wide-band spectra of 17 IPs, covering 3-50 keV. An accretion column model of Suleimanov et al. (2005) and an optically-thin thermal emission code were used to construct a spectral emission model of IPs with resolved Fe emission lines. By simultaneously fitting the Fe line complex and the hard X-ray continuum of individual spectra, the shock temperature and the WD mass were determined with a better accuracy than in previous studies. Results. We determined the WD masses of the 17 IPs with statistical fitting errors of ~0.1-0.2 Msun in many cases. The WD mass of a recently-found IP, IGR J17195-4100, was also estimated for the first time (1.03+0.24-0.22 Msun). The average WD mass of the sample is 0.88 \pm 0.25 Msun. When our results were compared with previous X-ray mass determinations, we found significant deviation in a few systems although the reason of this is unclear. The iron abundance of the accreting gas was also estimated, and confirmed the previously reported sub-solar tendency in all sources with better accuracy.

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