Using N-body simulations to understand the chemo-dynamical evolution of
  the inner Milky Way
  I present examples of how chemo-dynamical N-body simulations can help
understanding the structure and evolution of the inner Galaxy. Such simulations
reproduce the observed links between kinematics, morphology and chemistry in
the bar/bulge region and explain them by the self-consistent cohabitation of a
number of components. Galactic archaeology, applied to simulation snapshots,
explains the sequence in which the stars of the various components were formed.
The thick disc stars form earlier than those of the thin disc and in a much
shorter time scale. The bar in the thick disc is horizontally thicker than that
of the thin disc and has a different vertical morphology. The Galaxy's inner
disc scalelength is much smaller than what is expected from nearby galaxies of
similar stellar mass.
