On the Kinematic Deconvolution of the Local Luminosity Function
Abstract
A method for inverting the equation of stellar statistic including proper motions is tested. The supplementary constraint required by dynamical consistency is used in order to break the degeneracy. The inversion gives access to both the kinematics and the luminosity function of each population. Its application to data such as the Tycho catalog (and in the near future GAIA) will lead - provided the vertical potential, and/or the asymmetric drift or w_odot are known - to a non-parametric determination of the local neighbourhood luminosity function without any reference to stellar evolution tracks. It should also yield the proportion of stars for each kinematic component and a kinematic diagnostic to split the thin disk from the thick disk or the halo.