Context :

Aims : We investigate whether the cylindrical ( galactocentric ) radial velocity gradient of \sim - 3 ~ { } \mathrm { km } ~ { } \mathrm { s } ^ { -1 } ~ { } \mathrm { kpc } ^ { -1 } , directed radially from the Galactic center and recently observed in the stars of the solar neighborhood with the RAVE survey , can be explained by the resonant effects of the bar near the solar neighborhood .

Methods : We compared the results of test particle simulations of the Milky Way with a potential that includes a rotating bar with observations from the RAVE survey .
To this end we applied the RAVE selection function to the simulations and convolved these with the characteristic RAVE errors .
We explored different “ solar neighborhoods ” in the simulations , as well as different bar models .

Results : We find that the bar induces a negative radial velocity gradient at every height from the Galactic plane , outside the outer Lindblad resonance and for angles from the long axis of the bar compatible with the current estimates .
The selection function and errors do not wash away the gradient , but often make it steeper , especially near the Galactic plane , because this is where the RAVE survey is less radially extended .
No gradient in the vertical velocity is present in our simulations , from which we may conclude that this can not be induced by the bar .

Conclusions :