Using Evolution Strategies to Find a Dynamical Model of the M81 Triplet

In this work we present Evolution Strategies (ES) as an efficient optimization method for dynamic modelling of the main interacting group of three galaxies in M81. The M81 group is one of the nearest groups of galaxies; its biggest galaxy, M81, sits in the core of the group together with its two companions M82 and NGC3077. The interaction among these three galaxies is very well defined in an image taken in HI. In this first attempt we use non-self-gravitating simulations for modelling dynamically the group; even with this restriction our method reproduces the density distribution of the three galaxies with great precision. Results presented here show that ES is an excellent method to find an accurate model of groups of interacting galaxies, where a global search for a large number of real-valued parameters needs to be performed.