We calculate the expected birthrate and number of double white dwarf systems in the Galaxy. The predicted rate of mergers of white dwarf pairs with a total mass exceeding the Chandrasekhar mass is consistent with the rate of Type Ia supernovae. We show that the results of surveys which attempted to discover double white dwarf systems are not in conflict with the predictions of binary evolution theory. We identify the orbital period range 2-30 hr as one in which searches for double white dwarf systems are most likely to be sucessful.
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Yungelson et al. (1994) studied this question.