Population Synthesis of Post-Common Envelope White-Dwarf-Main-Sequence Binaries in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Abstract

We present preliminary results of detailed Monte Carlo simulations of the population of white dwarf-main sequence binary systems in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 (SDSS DR7). We have used the most up-to-date stellar evolutionary models, a complete treatment of the Roche lobe overflow episode, as well as a full implementation of the orbital evolution of the binary system. Moreover, we included the different selection criteria and observational biases within SDSS and examined the role played by the binding energy parameter and by the common envelope efficiency. Our Monte Carlo simulator correctly reproduces the properties of the observed distribution of white dwarf plus main sequence binary systems.