Variable Stars in the Quintuplet stellar cluster with the VVV Survey
  The Quintuplet cluster is one of the most massive star clusters in the Milky
Way, situated very close to the Galactic center. We present a new search for
variable stars in the vicinity of the cluster, using the five-year database of
the Vista Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) ESO Public Survey in the
near-infrared. A total of 7586 objects were identified in the zone around $2'$
from the cluster center, using 55 $K_S$-band epochs. Thirty-three stars show
$K_S$-band variability, 24 of them being previously undiscovered. Most of the
variable stars found are slow/semiregular variables, long-period variables of
the Mira type, and OH/IR stars. In addition, a good number of our candidates
show variations in a rather short timescale. We also propose four Young Stellar
Object (YSO) candidates, which could be cluster members.
