Photometric detection of high proper motions in dense stellar fields using Difference Image Analysis

The Difference Image Analysis (DIA) of the images obtained by the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE-II) revealed a peculiar artifact in the sample of stars proposed as variable by Wozniak (2000) in one of the Galactic bulge fields: the occurrence of pairs of candidate variables showing anti-correlated light curves monotonic over a period of 3 years. This effect can be understood, quantified and related to the stellar proper motions. DIA photometry supplemented with a simple model offers an effective and easy way to detect high proper motion stars (HPM stars) in very dense stellar fields, where conventional astrometric searches are extremely inefficient