Frequencies, chaos and resonances: a study of orbital parameters of nearby thick disc and halo stars

TL;DR

This study analyzes the orbital parameters of nearby thick disc and halo stars, revealing that observed substructures are due to the non-integrability of the Galactic potential and resonances, not merger events.

Contribution

It demonstrates that substructures in stellar orbital distributions arise from internal dynamical resonances rather than merger debris, highlighting the role of potential non-integrability.

Findings

Prominent substructures are present in generic potential but not in Stäckel model.

Approximately 30% of halo stars are associated with orbital resonances.

Resonant overdensities may help constrain the Galactic potential.

Abstract

We study the distribution of nearby thick disc and halo stars in subspaces defined by their characteristic orbital parameters. Our aim is to establish the origin of the structure reported in particular, in the $R_{\rm max}-z_{\rm max}$ space. To this end, we compute the orbital parameters and frequencies of stars for a generic and for a St\"ackel Milky Way potential. We find that for both the thick disc and halo populations very similar prominent substructures are apparent for the generic Galactic potential, while no substructure is seen for the St\"ackel model. This indicates that the origin of these features is not merger-related, but due to non-integrability of the generic potential. This conclusion is strengthened by our frequency analysis of the orbits of stars, which reveals the presence of prominent resonances, with $\sim 30\%$ of the halo stars associated to resonance families. In fact, the stars in resonances define the substructures seen in the spaces of characteristic orbital parameters. Furthermore, we find that some stars in our sample and in debris streams are on the same resonance as the Sagittarius dwarf, suggesting this system has also influenced the distribution of stars in the Galactic thick disc and halo components. Our study constitutes a step towards disentangling the imprint of merger debris from substructures driven by internal dynamics. Given their prominence, these resonant-driven overdensities could potentially be useful to constrain the exact form of the Galactic potential.