Related papers: A Self-Consistent Dynamical Model for the {\sl COB…
(Abridged:) Schwarzschild's method was used to construct equilibrium solutions to the collisionless Boltzmann equation corresponding to a Plummer sphere, which were compared with analytical results to test the robustness of the numerical…
We examine the observable properties of simulated barred galaxies including radial mass profiles, edge-on structure and kinematics, bar lengths and pattern speed evolution for detailed comparison to real systems. We have run several…
Gravitational microlensing is currently the only technique that helps study the Galactic distribution of planets as a function of distance from the Galactic center. The Galactic location of a lens system can be uniquely determined only when…
With a handful of measurements of limb-darkening coefficients, galactic microlensing has already proven to be a powerful technique for studying atmospheres of distant stars. Survey campaigns such as OGLE-III are capable of providing ~ 10…
We present the analysis of the first two years of the OGLE search for gravitational lenses towards the Galactic bulge. We detected 9 microlensing events in an algorithmic search of $ \sim 10^8 $ measurements of $ \sim 10^6 $ stars. The…
(ABRIDGED) We present a new Schwarzschild orbit-superposition code designed to model discrete datasets composed of velocities of individual kinematic tracers in a dynamical system. This constitutes an extension of previous implementations…
We study the dynamics near the unstable Lagrangian points in galactic bar models using dynamical system tools in order to determine the global morphology of a barred galaxy. We aim at the case of non-autonomous models, in particular with…
I review both well established and more recent findings on the properties of bars, and their host galaxies, stemming from photometric and spectroscopic observations, and discuss how these findings can be understood in terms of a global…
We present an update to the frequency analysis method for measuring the properties of a galactic bar. The method involves computing the fundamental frequencies of orbits in rotating, N-body-derived potential models, classifying the stars as…
The dark and dynamic parts of the Galaxy, including the bulk shape and movement of the Galactic Bulge and characteristics of dark compact object populations, such as a hypothetical population of primordial black holes (PBHs), are difficult…
In order to perform a detailed study of the stellar kinematics in the vertical axis of bars, we obtained high signal-to-noise spectra along the major and minor axes of the bars in a sample of 14 face-on galaxies, and used them to determine…
We present data for a sample of 45 spiral galaxies over a range of Hubble types, imaged in the near-IR J and K bands. Parameters are calculated describing the bulge, disk and bar K-band light distributions, and we look for correlations…
We present the first systematic search for microlensing events with variability in their baselines using data from the third phase of the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE-III). A total of 137 candidates (88 new) was discovered…
Studies of the internal mass structure of galaxies have observed a `conspiracy' between the dark matter and stellar components, with total (stars $+$ dark) density profiles showing remarkable regularity and low intrinsic scatter across…
Many observed disc galaxies harbour a central bar. In the standard cosmological paradigm, galactic bars should be slowed down by dynamical friction from the dark matter halo. This friction depends on the galaxy's physical properties in a…
Microlensing maps -- that is, contours of equal numbers of events per $10^6$ source stars -- are provided for the inner Galaxy under two alternative hypotheses : (1) the bulge is an oblate axisymmetric spheroid or (2) the bulge is a prolate…
We report the detection of 45 candidate microlensing events in fields toward the Galactic bulge. These come from the analysis of 24 fields containing 12.6 million stars observed for 190 days in 1993. Many of these events are of extremely…
We study the bar-driven dynamics in the inner part of the Milky Way by using invariant manifolds. This theory has been successfully applied to describe the morphology and kinematics of rings and spirals in external galaxies, and now, for…
We present a combination of the Schwarzschild orbit-superposition dynamical modelling technique with the spatially-resolved mean stellar age and metallicity maps to uncover the formation history of galaxies. We apply this new approach to a…
The mass of the lenses giving rise to Galactic microlensing events can be constrained by measuring the relative lens-source proper motion and lens flux. The flux of the lens can be separated from that of the source, companions to the…