Kinematics of the outer stellar halo

We test whether the simple model for the kinematics of the Galactic stellar halo (in particular the outer halo) proposed by Sommer-Larsen, Flynn & Christensen (SLFC) is physically realizable, by directly integrating particles in a three-dimensional model of the Galactic potential. We are able to show that the SLFC solution can be realized in terms of a distribution of particles with stationary statistical properties in phase space. Hence the SLFC model, which shows a notable change in the anisotropy from markedly radial at the Sun to markedly tangential beyond about Galactocentric radius r=20 kpc, seems a tenable description of outer halo kinematics.