We present the first results of a new abundance survey of the Milky Way bulge based on Keck/HIRES spectra of 27 K-giants in the Baade ’ s Window ( l = 1 , b = -4 ) field .
The spectral data used in this study are of much higher resolution and signal-to-noise than previous optical studies of Galactic bulge stars .
The [ Fe/H ] values of our stars , which range between -1.29 and +0.51 , were used to recalibrate large low resolution surveys of bulge stars .
Our best value for the mean [ Fe/H ] of the bulge is -0.10 \pm 0.04 .
This mean value is similar to the mean metallicity of the local disk and indicates that there can not be a strong metallicity gradient inside the solar circle .
The metallicity distribution of stars confirms that the bulge does not suffer from the so-called “ G-dwarf ” problem .
This paper also details the new abundance techniques necessary to analyze very metal-rich K-giants , including a new Fe line list and regions of low blanketing for continuum identification .