Large scale characterization of the stellar velocity distribution in the galactic disk

Test particle simulations of Milky Way type galactic disks are being conducted to map the evolution of the stellar large scale kinematic response to the bar and spiral structure. Second and third order moments of the velocity distribution function prove to be good indicators of both, the velocity ellipsoid misalignment near the arms and the bar, and the degree of kinematic substructure in the UV plane, that is, the presence of moving groups. A large scale analysis all through the galactic disk allows to establish the kinematic behavior near resonances and the correlation between the kinematic parameters and properties of the non-axisymmetric components, such as its transient nature or its mass overdensity. N-body simulaions are being run in order to test these results in self-consistent models.