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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 April 2016
Multiband observations of the AM Herculis-type binary CW1103+254 show significant circular polarization (~ 13%) in the J band. Recently, a model with high temperature (kT ~ 20 keV) and small dimensionless plasma parameter (Λ ~ 10 4) was suggested for the emitting region. However, it gives negligible polarization in the J band. In this paper, a method, in which the J band polarization and the peak frequency v* of the spectrum are taken into account, is used to determine T and Λ. For the viewing angle θ = 80° and the magnetic field B = 30MG, we find that kT = 5.0 keV and Λ = 106. The temperature of the emitting region is close to the value (kT = 8.7 keV) derived for the region emitting cyclotron lines in VV Puppis. If these radiations arise from the post-shock regions, then these temperatures are significantly lower than those predicted by standard accretion models or the shock structure is inhomogenous and more complex than previously assumed.