  The Early Data Release (EDR) of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
(DESI) comprises spectroscopy obtained from 2020 December 14 to 2021 June 10.
White dwarfs were targeted by DESI both as calibration sources and as science
targets and were selected based on Gaia photometry and astrometry. Here we
present the DESI EDR white dwarf catalogue, which includes 2706
spectroscopically confirmed white dwarfs of which approximately 1630 (roughly
60 per cent) have been spectroscopically observed for the first time, as well
as 66 white dwarf binary systems. We provide spectral classifications for all
white dwarfs, and discuss their distribution within the Gaia
Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. We provide atmospheric parameters derived from
spectroscopic and photometric fits for white dwarfs with pure hydrogen or
helium photospheres, a mixture of those two, and white dwarfs displaying carbon
features in their spectra. We also discuss the less abundant systems in the
sample, such as those with magnetic fields, and cataclysmic variables. The DESI
EDR white dwarf sample is significantly less biased than the sample observed by
the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which is skewed to bluer and therefore hotter
white dwarfs, making DESI more complete and suitable for performing statistical
studies of white dwarfs.
