The mass and luminosity functions and the formation rate of DA white dwarfs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Abstract

The SDSS Data Release 1 includes 1833 DA white dwarfs (WDs) and forms the largest homogeneous sample of WDs. This sample provides the best opportunity to study the statistical properties of WDs. We adopt a recently established theoretical model to calculate the mass and distance of each WD using the observational data. Then we adopt a bin-correction method to correct for selection effects and use the 1/V weight-factor method to calculate the luminosity function, the continuous mass function and the formation rate of these WDs. The SDSS DA WD sample is incomplete and suffers seriously from selection effects. After corrections for the selection effects, only 531 WDs remain. From this final sample we derive the most up-to-date luminosity function and mass function, in which we find a broad peak of WD masses centered around 0.58$M_{\odot }$. The DA WD space density is calculated as $8.81\times 10^{-5}p{c}^{-3}$ and the formation rate is $2.579\times 10^{-13}p{c}^{-3}y{r}^{-1}$. The statistical properties of the SDSS DA WD sample are generally in good agreement with previous observational and theoretical studies, and provide us information on the formation and evolution of WDs. However, a larger and more complete all-sky WD sample is still needed to explain some subtle disagreements and unresolved issues.

arXiv comment16 pages, 20 figures, 3 tables, accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysics

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• The mass function of hydrogen-rich white dwarfs: robust observational evidence for a distinctive high-mass excess near 1Msun
• DA white dwarfs from the LSS-GAC survey DR1: the preliminary luminosity and mass functions and formation rate
• An independent test of the photometric selection of white dwarf candidates using LAMOST DR3
• Compact Planetary Nebulae in the Galactic Disk: Analysis of the Central Stars
• A determination of the space density and birth rate of hydrogen-line (DA) white dwarfs in the Galactic Plane, based on the UVEX survey
• The effects of unresolved double-degenerates in the white dwarf luminosity function