Density Diagnostics of the Hot Plasma in AE Aquarii with XMM-Newton

Abstract

High resolution spectroscopy of AE Aquarii with the XMM-Newton RGS has enabled us to measure the electron number density of the X-ray-emitting hot plasma to be ~1E11/cm**-3 by means of intensity ratios of the He-like triplet of Nitrogen and Oxygen. Incorporating with the emission measure evaluated by the EPIC cameras, we have also found a linear scale of the plasma to be ~5E10 cm. Both these values, obtained model-independently, are incompatible with a standard post-shock accretion column of a magnetized white dwarf, but are naturally interpreted as the plasma being formed through interaction between an accretion flow and the magnetosphere of the white dwarf. Our results provide another piece of evidence of the magnetic propeller effect being at work in AE Aqr.

14 pages, 4 figures, Submitted to the Astrophysical Journal Letters, for associated pdf file, http://www-x.phys.metro-u.ac.jp/~ishida/ms.pdf