Kinematic properties of white dwarfs. Galactic orbital parameters and age-velocity dispersion relation

2021 
We present the first detailed 3D kinematic analysis of a sample of 3133 white dwarfs that use Gaia astrometry plus radial velocities, which were measured either by Gaia or by ground based spectroscopic observations. The studied sample includes either isolated white dwarfs, which have direct radial velocity measurements, or white dwarfs that belong to common proper motion pairs that contain non-degenerate companions with available radial velocities. A subset of common proper motion pairs also have metal abundances that have been measured by large scale spectroscopic surveys or by our own follow-up observations. We used the white dwarfs as astrophysical clocks, by determining their masses and total ages via interpolation with state-of-the-art evolutionary models, and we used the non-degenerate companions in common proper motions for chemical tagging of the population. Combining accurate radial velocities with Gaia astrometry and proper motions, we derived the velocity components of our sample in the Galactic rest frame and their Galactic orbital parameters. The studied sample is mostly located within ~300 pc from the Sun. It contains predominantly (90-95 %) thin disk stars with close-to-circular Galactic orbits, while the remaining 5-10 % of stars have more eccentric trajectories and belong to the thick disk. We identified seven isolated white dwarfs and two common proper motion pairs as halo members. We determined the age velocity-dispersion relation for the thin disk members, which is in agreement with previous results that were achieved from different white dwarf samples without published radial velocities and shows signatures of dynamical heating and saturation after 4-6 Gyr. [Abridged]
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