Modelling hydrogen atom in circumstellar slabs: Excitation,ionization, and line intensities

The statistical study of the individual light curves of magnetic close binary system AM Herculis obtained in 1978–1988 led to the following conclusions: (a) there is a dependence of the amplitude of brightness variations on the luminosity; (b) the shape of the phased light curves is statistically dependent on the luminosity; (c) the photometric period underwent cyclic changes, the phase of minimum is correlated with luminosity. These results confirm the main observational predictions of the swinging dipole model (Astrophys. Space Sci., 1987,131, 557), but the details are to be investigated during the international programme Polar of coordinated observations of AM Her (27 July–8 August, 1989).Paper presented at the 11th European Regional Astronomical Meetings of the IAU on New Windows to the Universe, held 3–8 July, 1989, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.