Proper Motions of Bulge Stars

Galactic bulges make up a signi_cant portion of a spiral galaxies mass. Yet for a \nlong period they have been generally understudied in comparison to the rest of the galaxy. The hardest galaxy to study is our own. \nBeing in the plane, observations \nof the centre of the Milky Way (MW) is blocked by the stars and dust making \nmeasurements of its internal structures a challenge. To make predictions of the inner workings of the Bulge, star forming simulations are created to qualitatively \ncompare the kinematics of the simulations and observations with the goal of inferring \nthe formation mechanism of the MW bulge. This project was able to reproduce \nobserved trends in chemically separated stellar proper motions within the MW with \nthe age separated proper motions of a N- body+SPH simulation. This simulations bulge was formed through a kinematic \nfractionation process producing a Box/Peanut distribution. The results of this thesis give further evidence to the MW hosting a \nbar at its centre and a B/P bulge distribution formed through secular evolution.