ABSTRACT. Since the discovery of the Ðrst isolated magnetic white dwarf (MWD) Grw ]70¡8047 nearly 60 years ago, the number of stars belonging to this class has grown steadily. There are now some 65 isolated white dwarfs classiÐed as magnetic, and a roughly equal number of MWDs are found in the close interacting binaries known as the magnetic cataclysmic variables (MCVs). The isolated MWDs comprise D5% of all WDs, while the MCVs comprise D25% of all CVs. The magnetic Ðelds range from D3 ] 104È109 G in the former group with a distribution peaking at 1.6 ] 107 G, and D107È3 ] 108 G in the latter group. The space density of isolated magnetic white dwarfs with Ðelds in the range D3 ] 104È109 G is estimated to be D1.5 ] 10~4 pc~3. The MCVs have a space density that is about a hundred times smaller.About 80% of the isolated MWDs have almost pure H atmospheres and show only hydrogen lines in their spectra (the magnetic DAs), while the remainder show He I lines (the magnetic DBs) or molecular bands of and CH (magnetic DQs) and have helium as the dominant atmospheric constituent, mirroring the C 2 situation in the nonmagnetic white dwarfs. The incidence of stars of mixed composition (H and He) appears to be higher among the MWDs.There is growing evidence based on trigonometric parallaxes, space motions, and spectroscopic analyses that the isolated MWDs tend as a class to have a higher mass than the nonmagnetic white dwarfs. The mean mass for 16 MWDs with well-constrained masses is Magnetic Ðelds may therefore play a Z0.95 M _ . signiÐcant role in angular momentum and mass loss in the postÈmain-sequence phases of single star evolution a †ecting the initial-Ðnal mass relationship, a view supported by recent work on cluster MWDs. The progenitors of the vast majority of the isolated MWDs are likely to be the magnetic Ap and Bp stars. However, the discovery of two MWDs with masses within a few percent of the Chandrasekhar limit, one of which is also rapidly rotating minutes), has led to the proposal that these may be the result of (P spin \ 12 double-degenerate (DD) mergers. An intriguing possibility is that magnetism, through its e †ect on the initial-Ðnal mass relationship, may also favor the formation of more massive double degenerates in close binary evolution. The magnetic DDs may therefore be more likely progenitors of Type Ia supernovae.A subclass of the isolated MWDs appear to rotate slowly with no evidence of spectral or polarimetric variability over periods of tens of years, while others exhibit rapid rotation with coherent periods in the range of tens of minutes to hours or days. There is a strong suggestion of a bimodal period distribution. The "" rapidly ÏÏ rotating isolated MWDs may include as a subclass stars which have been spun up during a DD merger or a previous phase of mass transfer from a companion star.Zeeman spectroscopy and polarimetry, and cyclotron spectroscopy, have variously been used to estimate magnetic Ðelds of the isolated MWDs and the MWDs in MCVs and to place strong constraints on the Ðeld str...

We have conducted a survey of 61 southern white dwarfs searching for magnetic fields using Zeeman spectropolarimetry. Our objective is to obtain a magnetic field distribution for these objects and, in particular, to find white dwarfs with weak fields. We found one possible candidate (WD 0310−688) that may have a weak magnetic field of −6.1±2.2 kG. Next, we determine the fraction and distribution of magnetic white dwarfs in the Solar neighborhood, and investigate the probability of finding more of these objects based on the current incidence of magnetism in white dwarfs within 20 pc of the Sun. We have also analyzed the spectra of the white dwarfs to obtain effective temperatures and surface gravities.

White dwarfs with surface magnetic fields in excess of 1 MG are found as isolated single stars and relatively more often in magnetic cataclysmic variables (CVs). Some 1253 white dwarfs with a detached low-mass main-sequence companion are identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) but none of these is observed to show evidence for Zeeman splitting of hydrogen lines associated with a magnetic field in excess of 1 MG. If such high magnetic fields on white dwarfs result from the isolated evolution of a single star, then there should be the same fraction of high field magnetic white dwarfs among this SDSS binary sample as among single stars. Thus, we deduce that the origin of such high magnetic fields must be intimately tied to the formation of CVs. The formation of a CV must involve orbital shrinkage from giant star to main-sequence star dimensions. It is believed that this shrinkage occurs as the low-mass companion and the white dwarf spiral together inside a common envelope. CVs emerge as very close but detached binary stars that are then brought together by magnetic braking or gravitational radiation. We propose that the smaller the orbital separation at the end of the common envelope phase, the stronger the magnetic field. The magnetic CVs originate from those common envelope systems that almost merge. We propose further that those common envelope systems that do merge are the progenitors of the single high field magnetic white dwarfs. Thus, all highly magnetic white dwarfs, be they single stars or the components of magnetic CVs, have a binary origin. This hypothesis also accounts for the relative dearth of single white dwarfs with fields of 10 4 -10 6 G. Such intermediate-field white dwarfs are found preferentially in CVs. In addition, the bias towards higher masses for highly magnetic white dwarfs is expected if a fraction of these form when two degenerate cores merge in a common envelope. Similar scenarios may account for very high field neutron stars. From the space density of single highly magnetic white dwarfs we estimate that about three times as many common envelope events lead to a merged core as to a CV.

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Recent studies of white dwarfs in open clusters have provided new constraints on the initial–final mass relationship (IFMR) for main‐sequence stars with masses in the range 2.5–6.5 M⊙. We re‐evaluate the ensemble of data that determines the IFMR and argue that the IFMR can be characterized by a mean IFMR about which there is an intrinsic scatter. We investigate the consequences of the IFMR for the observed mass distribution of field white dwarfs using population synthesis calculations. We show that while a linear IFMR predicts a mass distribution that is in reasonable agreement with the recent results from the Palomar–Green survey, the data are better fitted by an IFMR with some curvature. Our calculations indicate that a significant (∼28) percentage of white dwarfs originating from a single star evolution has masses in excess of ∼0.8 M⊙, obviating the necessity for postulating the existence of a dominant population of high‐mass white dwarfs that arise from binary star mergers.