AE Aquarii: The first white dwarf in the family of spin-powered pulsars
Abstract
Simulation of Doppler H-alpha tomogram of the nova-like star AE Aquarii suggests that the dipole magnetic moment of the white dwarf is close to 1.5E+34 G cm3. This is consistent with the lower limit to the magnetic field strength of the white dwarf derived from observations of circularly polarized optical emission of the system. The rapid braking of the white dwarf and the nature of pulsing hard X-ray emission recently detected with SUZAKU space telescope under these conditions can be explained in terms of spin-powered pulsar mechanism. A question about the origin of strongly magnetized white dwarf in the system remains, however, open. Possible evolutionary tracks of AE Aquarii are briefly discussed.
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