The Luminosity Function of Magnitude and Proper‐Motion–selected Samples: The Case of White Dwarfs

Méndez, René A.; Ruíz, M. T.

doi:10.1086/318359

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In comparison, Liebert et al (1988) derive ρ W D (LDM) = 3.0 × 10 −3 stars pc −3 from analysis of white dwarfs found in proper motion surveys. A recent study by Mendez & Ruiz (2001), based on a more extensive sample, gives ρ W D (LDM) = 2.5 × 10 −3 stars pc −3 Both are broadly consistent with the density estimate derived from the nearest stars.…”

Section: White Dwarfs Dark Matter and The Thick Disksupporting

confidence: 85%

High‐Velocity White Dwarfs: Thick Disk, Not Dark Matter

Reid¹,

Sahu²,

Hawley³

2001

ApJ

100

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We present an alternative interpretation of the nature of the extremely cool, high-velocity white dwarfs identified by Oppenheimer et al. (2001) in a high-latitude astrometric survey. We argue that the velocities of the majority of the sample are more consistent with the high-velocity tail of a rotating population, probably the thick disk, rather than a pressure-supported halo system. Indeed, the observed numbers are well matched by predictions based on the kinematics of a complete sample of nearby M dwarfs. Analysing only stars showing retrograde motion gives a local density close to that expected for white dwarfs in the stellar (R −3.5 ) halo. Under our interpretation, none of the white dwarfs need be assigned to the dark-matter, heavy halo. However, luminosity functions derived from observations of these stars can set important constraints on the age of the oldest stars in the Galactic Disk.

show abstract

Section: White Dwarfs Dark Matter and The Thick Disksupporting

confidence: 85%

High‐Velocity White Dwarfs: Thick Disk, Not Dark Matter

Reid¹,

Sahu²,

Hawley³

2001

ApJ

100

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The observed white dwarf luminosity function preserves a record of the star formation and death rate that spans the history of the Galaxy, sets constraints on the quantity of its local baryonic matter, the recycling of material to the interstellar medium, and encodes the kinematics of stellar populations throughout the disk and halo. Its uses and inherent limitations have been discussed in a number of excellent papers (Weidemann, 2000a;Méndez and Ruiz, 2001;Bergeron et al, 2001;Hansen and Liebert, 2003), while several reviews of the theory behind the white dwarf luminosity function provided essential caveats and context for its interpretation (D'Antona and Mazzitelli, 1989;Koester, 2002).…”

Section: The Observed White Dwarf Luminosity Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, a few caveats are in order. Some of these include possible changes in the initial mass function (Adams and Laughlin, 1996;Gibson and Mould, 1997;Brocato et al, 1999), uncertainties in white dwarf core composition and chemical profile (Isern et al, 1997;Salaris et al, 1997;Panei et al, 2000), phase separation (Isern et al, 1997;Montgomery et al, 1999), incompleteness of the sample (Méndez and Ruiz, 2001;Holberg et al, 2002), unresolved binary star fraction (Liebert et al, 2005;Farihi et al, 2005) and statistical limitations of the method chosen to construct the white dwarf luminosity function (García-Berro et al, 1999;Geijo et al, 2006).…”

Section: The Star Formation History Of the Galaxymentioning

confidence: 99%

The white dwarf luminosity function

Garcı́a–Berro

Oswalt

2016

New Astronomy Reviews

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

White dwarfs are the final remnants of low-and intermediate-mass stars. Their evolution is essentially a cooling process that lasts for ∼ 10 Gyr. Their observed properties provide information about the history of the Galaxy, its dark matter content and a host of other interesting astrophysical problems. Examples of these include an independent determination of the past history of the local star formation rate, identification of the objects responsible for the reported microlensing events, constraints on the rate of change of the gravitational constant, and upper limits to the mass of weakly interacting massive particles. To carry on these tasks the essential observational tools are the luminosity and mass functions of white dwarfs, whereas the theoretical tools are the evolutionary sequences of white dwarf progenitors, and the corresponding white dwarf cooling sequences. In particular, the observed white dwarf luminosity function is the key manifestation of the white dwarf cooling theory, although other relevant ingredients are needed to compare theory and observations. In this review we summarize the recent attempts to empirically determine the white dwarf luminosity function for the different Galactic populations. We also discuss the biases that may affect its interpretation. Finally, we elaborate on the theoretical ingredients needed to model the white dwarf luminosity function, paying special attention to the remaining uncertainties, and we comment on some applications of the white dwarf cooling theory. Astrophysical problems for which white dwarf stars Email addresses: enrique.garcia-berro@upc.edu (Enrique García-Berro), terry.oswalt@erau.edu (Terry D. Oswalt) Preprint submitted to New Astronomy ReviewsAugust 10, 2016 may provide useful leverage in the near future are also discussed.

show abstract

“…(6) is to be extended is determined by the minimum and maximum distances (r min and r max respectively) over which any star can contribute to the sample (see, e.g., Méndez & Ruiz 2001). …”

Section: Density Estimatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Where V max is the classical maximum allowed volume for a magnitude and proper-motion selected sample (see, e.g., Méndez & Ruiz 2001), and is a (dimensionless) correction factor which accounts for the non-homogeneous distribution of stars in space (we shall see that, in any case, this correction factor is relatively small, close to one, for our sample). Both terms are given, respectively, by:…”

Section: Density Estimatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dark matter revealed

Mendez

2002

A&A

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. We present new evidence, based on faint HST proper-motions, for a bi-modal kinematic population of old white dwarfs, representative of the Thick-Disk and Halo of our Galaxy. This evidence supports the idea of a massive Halo comprised of faint and old white dwarfs, along with an extant population of Thick-Disk white dwarfs. We show how most of the required dark matter in the solar vicinity can be accounted for by the remnants from these two components together.

show abstract

The Luminosity Function of Magnitude and Proper‐Motion–selected Samples: The Case of White Dwarfs

Cited by 8 publications

References 21 publications

High‐Velocity White Dwarfs: Thick Disk, Not Dark Matter

High‐Velocity White Dwarfs: Thick Disk, Not Dark Matter

The white dwarf luminosity function

Dark matter revealed

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About