Galaxy Dynamics: The chemical evolution side

Spiral density waves patterns re-distribute stars throughout the entire system, making it impossible to know a star's origin from just its kinematics. However, stars are more than just points in phase space: every star is labelled with the elemental abundances of the gas cloud from which it was formed. Over the last few years a number of observational campaigns have started to measure these labels for millions of stars in our own Galaxy's disc. Ralph Schoenrich will describe how chemodynamical models are being used to piece together the evolution of our Galactic environment from presolar times to the present.