Candidate Hypervelocity Red Clump Stars in the Galactic Bulge Found
  Using the VVV and Gaia Surveys
  We propose a new way to search for hypervelocity stars in the Galactic bulge,
by using red clump (RC) giants, that are good distance indicators. The 2nd Gaia
Data Release and the near-IR data from the VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea
(VVV) Survey led to the selection of a volume limited sample of 34 bulge RC
stars. A search in this combined data set leads to the discovery of seven
candidate hypervelocity red clump stars in the Milky Way bulge. Based on this
search we estimate the total production rate of hypervelocity RC stars from the
central supermassive black hole (SMBH) to be $N_{HVRC} = 3.26 \times 10^{-4} $
yr$^{-1}$. This opens up the possibility of finding larger samples of
hypervelocity stars in the Galactic bulge using future surveys, closer to their
main production site, if they are originated by interactions of binaries with
the central SMBH.
