POLAR project: Numerical modeling of the accretion column

In this paper we study the formation and evolution of radiative accretion shocks in the context of accretion columns in magnetic cataclysmic variables. The phenomenon induces extreme regimes of matter and the radiation emitted by those region dominates the observed emission from polars. A 2D hydrodynamical code, HYDRO-COOL, has been developed in order to deal with high-Mach number flows and is currently improved to produce a numerical model of the accretion column. This code is the hydrodynamical part of the HADES code which aims at modeling radiative hydrodynamical systems. The final goal of this model is to improve our understanding of observational results. First numerical results are reported here, as well as a discussion about the time-dependent evolution of the column.