Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 October 2010
We use test-particle orbit integration with a realistic Milky Way (MW) potential to study the effect of the resonances of the Galactic bar and spiral arms on the velocity distribution of the Solar Neighbourhood and other positions of the disk. Our results show that spiral arms create abundant kinematic substructure and crowd stars into the region of the Hercules moving group in the velocity plane. Bar resonances can contribute to the origin of low-angular momentum moving groups like Arcturus. Particles in the predicted dark disk of the MW should be affected by the same resonances as stars, triggering dark-matter moving groups in the disk. Finally, we evaluate how this study will be advanced by upcoming Gaia data.