Characterization of the VVV Survey RR Lyrae Population across the
  Southern Galactic Plane
  Deep near-IR images from the VISTA Variables in the V\'ia L\'actea (VVV)
Survey were used to search for RR Lyrae stars in the Southern Galactic plane. A
sizable sample of 404 RR Lyrae of type ab stars was identified across a thin
slice of the 4$^{\rm th}$ Galactic quadrant ($295\deg < l < 350\deg$,
$-2.24\deg < b < -1.05\deg$). The sample's distance distribution exhibits a
maximum density that occurs at the bulge tangent point, which implies that this
primarily Oosterhoff type I population of RRab stars does not trace the bar
delineated by their red clump counterparts. The bulge RR Lyrae population does
not extend beyond $l \sim340 \deg$, and the sample's spatial distribution
presents evidence of density enhancements and substructure that warrants
further investigation. Indeed, the sample may be employed to evaluate Galactic
evolution models, and is particularly lucrative since half of the discovered RR
Lyrae are within reach of Gaia astrometric observations.
