The X-ray emission of magnetic cataclysmic variables in the XMM-Newton era

TL;DR

This paper reviews X-ray spectral properties of magnetic cataclysmic binaries observed with XMM-Newton, Chandra, and Suzaku, highlighting diverse accretion modes and potential evolutionary links between subclasses.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of X-ray spectral signatures across different accretion regimes in magnetic cataclysmic variables based on recent high-quality observations.

Findings

Diverse spectral behaviors indicate a wide range of physical parameters.

Evidence suggests a possible evolutionary connection between intermediate polars and polars.

X-ray signatures correlate with magnetic field strength and accretion rate.

Abstract

We review the X-ray spectral properties of magnetic cataclysmic binaries derived from observations obtained during the last decade with the large X-ray observatories XMM-Newton, Chandra and Suzaku. We focus on the signatures of the different accretion modes which are predicted according to the values of the main physical parameters (magnetic field, local accretion rate and white dwarf mass). The observed large diversity of spectral behaviors indicates a wide range of parameter values in both intermediate polars and polars, in line with a possible evolutionary link between both classes.