Analysis of the three-dimensional stellar velocity field using vector spherical functions

We apply vector spherical functions to problems of stellar kinematics. Using these functions allows all of the systematic components in the stellar velocity field to be revealed without being attached to a specific physical model. Comparison of the theoretical decomposition coefficients of the equations for a particular kinematical model with observational data can provide precise information about whether the model is compatible with the observations and can reveal systematic components that are not described by this model. The formalism of vector spherical functions is particularly well suited for analyzing the present and future (e.g., GAIA) catalogs containing all three velocity vector components: the propermotions in both coordinates and the radial velocity. We show that there are systematic components in the proper motions of Hipparcos stars that cannot be interpreted in terms of the linear Ogorodnikov-Milne model. The same result is also confirmed by an analysis of the radial velocities for these stars.