Making action-angle disc models for Gaia

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in dynamical modeling of the Milky Way using action-angle coordinates, highlighting progress in constraining the Galactic potential and local dark matter density.

Contribution

It provides an overview of recent developments in applying action-angle coordinates to Galactic modeling and discusses progress in understanding the Milky Way's potential.

Findings

Improved methods for using action-angle coordinates in realistic potentials

Progress in constraining the Milky Way's gravitational potential

Refined estimates of local dark matter density

Abstract

A brief review of recent work. I describe dynamical modelling of the Milky Way using action-angle coordinates. I explain what action-angle coordinates are, and what progress has been made in the past few years to ensuring they can be used in reasonably realistic Galactic potentials. I then describe recent modelling efforts, and progress they have made in constraining the potential of the Milky Way and the local dark matter density.