Initial-final mass relation from white dwarfs within 40 pc

Abstract

ABSTRACT We present an initial-final mass relation derived from the spectroscopically complete volume-limited 40 pc sample of white dwarfs. The relation is modelled using population synthesis methods to derive an initial stellar population which can be fit to the observed mass distribution of white dwarfs. The population synthesis accounts for binary evolution, where higher mass white dwarfs are more likely to be merger products than their lower mass counterparts. Uncertainties are accounted from the initial mass function, stellar metallicity, and age of the Galactic disc. We also consider biases induced by the spectral type of the white dwarf where pure-hydrogen atmosphere white dwarfs are likely to have more accurate masses, whilst the full white dwarf sample will have fewer biases arising from spectral evolution. We provide a four-piece segmented linear regression using Monte Carlo methods to sample the 1-σ range of uncertainty on the initial stellar population. The derived initial-final mass relation provides a self-consistent determination of the progenitor mass for white dwarfs in the Solar neighbourhood which will be useful to study the local stellar formation history.