Simulating non-axisymmetric flows in disc galaxies
  We present a two-step method to simulate and study non-circular motions in
strongly barred galaxies. The first step is to constrain the initial parameters
using a Bayesian analysis of each galaxy's azimuthally averaged rotation curve,
the 3.6 $\rm \mu m$ surface brightness, and the gas surface density. The second
step is to generate equilibrium models using the GalactICS code and evolve them
via GADGET-2. The bar strengths and mock velocity maps of the resulting
snapshots are compared to observations in order to determine the best
representation of the galaxy. We test our method on the unbarred galaxy NGC
3621 and the barred galaxies NGC 1300 and NGC 1530. NGC 3621 provides a
validation of our method of generating initial conditions. NGC 1530 has an
intermediate bar orientation that allows for a comparison to DiskFit. Finally
NGC 1300 has a bar oriented parallel to the galaxy's major axis, where other
algorithms tend to fail. Our models for NGC 3621 and NGC 1530 are comparable to
those obtained using commonly available algorithms. Moreover, we have produced
one of the first mass distribution models for NGC 1300.
