The origin of bars in simulations of Milky-Way like galaxies

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Recent observations from ESA's Gaia mission and others have revolutionised how we see the Milky Way, garnering several exciting discoveries including an incredibly complex and rich "out-of-equilibrium" dynamical structure. This structure has been shaped by a wide range of dynamical phenomena, such as the galactic bar, spiral arms, and mergers. Unravelling the formation and evolution of this structure is a major goal of modern galactic astrophysics.The main aim of this project will be to unravel the connection between the galactic bar and the merger history of the Milky Way: did the bar form from the internal secular evolution of the disc, or was bar formation triggered by the merger with Gaia-Enceladus? The project will use a large suite of zoom simulations to explore the connection between mergers and bar formation, and determine if those formation channels leave different signatures in terms of bar properties (orbital structure and stellar populations) which could be compared with observations.