1995A&A...298..165K

We have developed a phenomenological model for the accretion onto the magnetic white dwarf in intermediate polars and the propagation of the emitted X-rays through the infalling material. We demonstrate that photoabsorption can produce the observed energy-dependent rotational intensity modulation already for a moderate tilt of the magnetic against the rotational axis. Our parameter study indicates that the modulation is sensitive to the accretion rate, the degree of clumpiness in the accretion stream, the tilt of the magnetic axis, and the inclination of the system, but depends less critically on the parameters of the white dwarf and on the physical conditions imposed on the accreting matter by the magnetosphere-disk interaction. X-ray studies can, therefore, provide information primarily on the former parameters.