The Gaia mission has detected many white dwarfs (WDs) in binary and triple configurations, and while observations suggest that triple stellar systems are common in our galaxy, not much attention was devoted to WDs in triples. For stability reasons, these triples must have hierarchical configurations, i.e., two stars are on a tight orbit (the inner binary), with the third companion on a wider orbit about the inner binary. In such a system, the two orbits torque each other via the eccentric Kozai-Lidov mechanism (EKL), which can alter the orbital configuration of the inner binary. We simulate thousands of triple stellar systems for over 10 Gyr, tracking gravitational interactions, tides, general relativity, and stellar evolution up to their white dwarf fate. As demonstrated here, three-body dynamics coupled with stellar evolution is a critical channel to form tight WD binaries or lead to a merger of a WD and a companion. Amongst these triples, we explore their manifestations as cataclysmic variables, Type Ia supernovae, and gravitational-wave events. The simulated systems are then compared to a sample of WD triples selected from the Gaia catalog. We find that including the effect of mass loss-induced kicks is crucial for producing a distribution of the inner binary-tertiary separations that is consistent with Gaia observations. Lastly, leveraging this consistency, we estimate that ~30% of solar-type stars in the local 200 parsec were born in triples.
16 pages, 6 figures