Formation and Evolution of the Disk System of the Milky Way: [alpha/Fe]
  Ratios and Kinematics of the SEGUE G-Dwarf Sample
  We employ measurements of the [alpha/Fe] ratio derived from low-resolution
(R~2000) spectra of 17,277 G-type dwarfs from the SEGUE survey to separate them
into likely thin- and thick-disk subsamples. Both subsamples exhibit strong
gradients of orbital rotational velocity with metallicity, of opposite signs,
-20 to -30 km/s/dex for the thin-disk and +40 to +50 km/s/dex for the
thick-disk population. The rotational velocity is uncorrelated with
Galactocentric distance for the thin-disk subsample, and exhibits a small trend
for the thick-disk subsample. The rotational velocity decreases with distance
from the plane for both disk components, with similar slopes (-9.0 {\pm} 1.0
km/s/kpc). Thick-disk stars exhibit a strong trend of orbital eccentricity with
metallicity (about -0.2/dex), while the eccentricity does not change with
metallicity for the thin-disk subsample. The eccentricity is almost independent
of Galactocentric radius for the thin-disk population, while a marginal
gradient of the eccentricity with radius exists for the thick-disk population.
Both subsamples possess similar positive gradients of eccentricity with
distance from the Galactic plane. The shapes of the eccentricity distributions
for the thin- and thick-disk populations are independent of distance from the
plane, and include no significant numbers of stars with eccentricity above 0.6.
Among several contemporary models of disk evolution we consider, radial
migration appears to have played an important role in the evolution of the
thin-disk population, but possibly less so for the thick disk, relative to the
gas-rich merger or disk heating scenarios. We emphasize that more physically
realistic models and simulations need to be constructed in order to carry out
the detailed quantitative comparisons that our new data enable.
