A new model for the Milky Way bar

We use Schwarzschild's orbit-superposition technique to construct self-consistent models of the Galactic bar. Using χ² minimisation, we find that the best-fit Galactic bar model has a pattern speed Ω_p=60 km s^-1 kpc^-1, disk mass M_d=1.0×10¹¹M_⊙ and bar angle θ_bar=20° for an adopted bar mass M_bar=2×10¹⁰M_⊙. The model can reproduce not only the three-dimensional and projected density distributions but also velocity and velocity dispersion data from the BRAVA survey. We also predict the proper motions in the range l=[-12°,12°], b=[-10°,10°], which appear to be higher than observations in the longitudinal direction. The model is stable within a timescale of 0.5 Gyr, but appears to deviate from steady-state on longer timescales. Our model can be further tested by future observations such as those from GAIA.