MAGNETIC-MOMENT DISTRIBUTION OF MAGNETIC CATACLYSMIC VARIABLES

We have presented a simulation study of the relative numbers of the AM Herculis binaries and the intermediate polars as a function of the orbital period using random variables subject to suitable constraints to describe the various parameters. We show that the observations can be matched by a single distribution in magnetic moment mu, that is, Gaussian in logarithm space with <log(mu/10(33) G cm3)> = 0.7 +/- 0.3. For such an ensemble the intermediate polars are distributed in the log(P(orb)) - log(P(s)) diagram about the critical disc line but with a larger scatter than observed.