In this dissertation, we study properties of quantum interaction phenomena in two-dimensional (2D) and one-dimensional (1D) electronic systems in p-GaAs micro- and nano-scale devices. We present low-temperature magneto-transport data from three forms of low-dimensional systems 1) 2D hole systems: in order to study interaction contributions to the metallic behavior of 2D systems 2) Bilayer hole systems: in order to study the many body, bilayer quantum Hall state at nu = 1 3) 1D hole systems: for the study of the anomalous conductance plateau G = 0.7 ???? 2e2/h The work is divided into five experimental studies aimed at either directly exploring the properties of the above three interaction phenomena or the development of novel device structures that exploit the strong particle-particle interactions found in p-GaAs for the study of many body phenomena. Firstly, we demonstrate a novel semiconductor-insulator-semiconductor field effect transistor (SISFET), designed specifically to induced 2D hole systems at a ????normal???? AlGaAs-on-GaAs heterojunction. The novel SISFETs feature in our studies of the metallic behavior in 2D systems in which we examine temperature corrections to ????xx(T) and ????xy(T) in short- and long-range disorder potentials. Next, we shift focus to bilayer hole systems and the many body quantum Hall states that form a nu = 1 in the presence of strong interlayer interactions. We explore the evolution of this quantum Hall state as the relative densities in the layers is imbalanced while the total density is kept constant. Finally, we demonstrate a novel p-type quantum point contact device that produce the most stable and robust current quantization in a p-type 1D systems to date, allowing us to observed for the first time the 0.7 structure in a p-type device.

This thesis investigates the use of single Cooper-pair transistor (SCPT) for fast and sensitive detection of quasiparticle dynamics. This investigation is motivated by the possibility of quantum information processing using superconducting nanoscale circuits, such as the SCPT and the Cooper-pair-box (CPB). In the SCPT coherent charge transport can be temporarily halted due to quasiparticle tunnelling, known as quasiparticle poisoning. Quasiparticle poisoning can be reduced by the use of engineered island and lead gap energies. The thesis begins by reporting measurements of the superconducting gap in aluminium - aluminium-oxide - aluminium tunnel junctions, as a function of film thickness. We have observed an increase in the superconducting energy gap of aluminium with decreasing film thickness. This method is used to engineer the island and gap energies in a SCPT and consequently we observe reduced poisoning and a modification of the thresholds for finite bias transport processes. Radio-frequency reflectometry is used to perform high-bandwidth measurements of quasiparticle tunnelling in a gap engineered SCPT. A model for the radio-frequency (rf) operation of the SCPT is presented and shows close agreement with experiment. Thermal activation of the quasiparticle dynamics is investigated, and consequently, we are able to determine energetics of the poisoning and unpoisoning processes. This enables an effective quasiparticle temperature to be determined, allowing the poisoning to be parametrised. An investigation of the use of normal metal quasiparticle traps for suppression of quasiparticle poisoning in SCPT devices is performed. To date, there has been little quantitative information about the behaviour of quasiparticle traps even though they have been used extensively. The work presented serves to clarify the nature of quasiparticle trap performance. Finally the single-quasiparticle sensitivity of the SCPT is employed to directly probe a few quasiparticle gas in a small superconducting volume. The quasiparticle population is monitored both in the steady-state and under non-equilibrium conditions of injection. In the non-equilibrium regime the quasiparticle recombination time is accessed from the response of the SCPT to pulsed injection. Agreement to previous experimental studies of recombination times in aluminium is found.

To date, more than 300 planets orbiting stars other than our sun have been discovered using a range of observing techniques, with new discoveries occuring monthly. The work in this thesis focused on the detection of exoplanets using the transit method. Planets orbiting close to their host stars have a roughly 10 per cent chance of eclipsing (transiting) the star, with Jupiter?sized planets causing a one per cent dip in the flux of the star over a few hours. A wealth of orbital and physical information on the system can be extracted from these systems, including the planet density which is essential in constraining models of planetary formation. To detect these types of planets requires monitoring tens of thousands of stars over a period of months. To accomplish this, we conduct a wide-field survey using the 0.5-meter Automated Patrol Telescope (APT) at Siding Spring Observatory (SSO) in NSW, Australia. Once candidates were selected from the data?set, selection criteria were applied to separate the likely planet candidates from the false?positives. For this thesis, the methods and instrumentation used in attaining data and selecting planet candidates are discussed, as well as the results and analysis of the planet candidates selected from star fields observed from 2004?2007. Of the 65 planet candidates initially selected from the 25 target fields observed, only two were consistent with a planet transit. These candidates were later determined to be eclipsing binary stars based on follow up observations using the 40-inch telescope, 2.3-m telescope, and the 3.9-m Anglo-Australian Telescope, all located at SSO. Additionally, two planet candidates from the SuperWASP-North consortium were observed on the 40-inch telescope. Both proved to be eclipsing binary stars. While no planets were found, our search methods and results are consistent with successful transit surveys targeting similar fields with stars in a similar magnitude range and using similar methods.

This thesis addresses two fundamental questions in astrophysics: (i) To what extent is environment a driver of galaxy evolution? And (ii) How does hierarchical structure formation affect the galaxy environment? The former is addressed by examining the environments of starburst galaxies, the latter by examining clusters undergoing major mergers with focus placed on the efficacy of ??cold fronts?? in identifying systems that have recently undergone a major merger - an essential first step to understanding their impact. For the first of these studies, the 2dFGRS was exploited to select large samples of starburst galaxies. These were used to derive measurements of the local and large-scale environments, clustering properties, and morphologies of starburst galaxies. It is found local environment is most germane in terms of a starburst triggering mechanism, with the starburst galaxies showing an excess of close (<20 kpc) neighbours with comparable luminosity/mass, while 20-30% exhibit a morphology consistent with them being involved in an ongoing tidal/merger interaction. On large scales (5-15 Mpc), the starburst galaxies were found to be much less clustered compared to the overall 2dFGRS population, and were not preferentially found in rich clusters with just over half residing in low to intermediate luminosity groups. However, in a number of cases, evidence for obvious local environmental influences was lacking, indicating starbursts can also be internally driven. For the latter study, the Chandra, archive was used to select a sample of clusters exhibiting ??cold front?? features. Selection required the presence of significant density jumps (>1.5 at the lower 90% CI) in the intracluster medium and for the gas on the denser side of the front to be cooler. From this sample, the clusters Abell 1201, Abell 2163, RXJ1720.1+2638, and Abell 3667 were targeted for comprehensive spectroscopic follow-up at optical wavelengths using the 3.9m Anglo Australian and 6.5m Multiple Mirror Telescopes. Using 321 spectroscopically confirmed members for Abell 1201, 550 for Abell 3667 and 491 for Abell 2163 it is shown that these clusters contain substructure which can be directly related to the cold fronts, whilst for 335 confirmed members in RXJ1720.1+2638 promising evidence exists for merger activity related to the cold front. Despite the range of different types of cold fronts and substructures detected, it is clear that cold fronts are robust signposts of merger activity.

This thesis presents studies of the low energy properties of nseveral frustrated spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnets using various analytic and computational methods. The models studied include the union jack model, the alternating Heisenberg chain, the Heisenberg bilayer model, and the spin-Peierls model. The union jack model is a Heisenberg antiferromagnetic spin model with frustration, and is analyzed using spin-wave theory. For small values of the frustrating coupling $\alpha$, the system is N{\' e}el ordered, while for large $\alpha$ the frustration is found to induce a canted phase. Spin wave theory with second order corrections finds the critical coupling at $\alpha \simeq 0.645$,which agrees quantitatively with series expansion results. No intermediate spin-liquid phase is found to exist between the two phases. The alternating Heisenberg chain is studied using an alternative triplet-wave expansion formalism for dimerized spin systems, modification of the ??bond operator?? formalism of Sachdev and Bhatt. Projection operators are used to confine the system to the physical subspace, rather than constraint equations. Comparisons are made with the results of dimer series expansions and exact diagonalization. The S=1/2 Heisenberg bilayer spin model at zero temperature is studied in the dimerized phase using analytic triplet-wave expansions and dimer series expansions. The occurrence of two-triplon bound states in the S=0 and S=1 channels, and antibound states in the S=2 channel, is predicted with triplet-wave theory and confirmed by series expansions. All bound states are found to vanish at or before the critical coupling separating the dimerized phase from the N{\' e}el phase. The critical behavior of the total and single-particle static transverse structure factors is also studied by series expansion methods and found to conform with theoretical expectations. The Heisenberg spin-Peierls model with dispersive, gapless phonons is studied with Density Matrix Renormalization Group methods. We investigate the zero temperature properties of the model using the crossover method. The calculations were found to converge poorly and no conclusive results could be found using this method. An analysis of the convergence problems and the discovery of an anomalous triplet ground state is presented in this chapter.

Measurements were made of the rate of magnetization, and the magnetization of the series of Dy (Co, Ni)2 compounds to investigate the intrinsic magnetic after effect. This effect is demonstrated by the existence of an intrinsic coercivity such that a critical value of applied field, Hc, must be reached before the domain walls can move freely through the material. However there is some movement of domain walls of fields below Hc, and this gives rise to time dependent magnetization. The mechanisms by which the domain walls overcome the energy barrier to their motion at fields below Hc was investigated in pulsed field, and in steady fields. After measuring the critical field and magnetic moments of each sample, the pulsed field magnetometer results were analysed to show that there is a certain temperature above which the mechanism for domain wall motion appears to be that described by Taylor???s thermal activation model. Below that particular temperature, the magnetization rate depends on the reciprocal of the applied field, and an empirical model is suggested. Estimates are made of the number of spines contained in the average wall kink; the wall jump frequency and the energy barrier. A vibrating sample magnetometer was used to study the magnetization of the specimens in steady fields. The results indicate that both the mechanisms described above are in operation, with thermal activation being a possibility at temperatures as low as 4.2K.

The work presented in this thesis is primarily concerned with modelling the formation of secondary organic aerosols (SOAs). SOAs cannot easily be measured with direct analytical chemical methods; indirect methods like applying organic carbon to elemental carbon ratios and utilising computer models have been employed to provide an estimate of the SOA mass concentrations in ambient air. The five models presented in this work were either developed or assessed using environmental chamber data. Chamber experiments were undertaken using initial isoprene concentrations in the range of 22 ppb to 343 ppb, with the reactive organic carbon (ROC) to NOx ratios in the range of 2.0 to about 18. Chamber experiments were also performed for the a-pinene / NOx system with initial a-pinene concentrations ranging from 79 ppb to 225 ppb, with ROC/NOx ratios varying from 5.5 to about 41. All of the experiments were performed without the addition of propene or seed aerosol. Background aerosol levels were very low for the experiments presented in the thesis and so homogeneous nucleation processes were considered to occur in the chamber in addition to absorption and oligomerisation formation processes. Initial nucleation events resulting from the photooxidation of isoprene could be detected once the aerosol diameter was greater than 12 nm. In the a-pinene system,new particles formed via homogeneous nucleation processes were detectable in the 100-200nm diameter range. The models presented range in complexity from the near explicit Master Chemical Mechanism to an empirical model whose key feature is its simplicity. The mechanistic model provides an insight into the SOA formation pathways and the influence of varying the initial experimental conditions and the duration of photooxidation on the simulated SOA composition. The aim of the empirical model is to simulate the SOA mass concentration produced during a chamber experiment. The development of the model is intentionally simple so that it can be applied to any hydrocarbon and has been applied successfully to isoprene and a-pinene chamber experiments. In this way, the empirical model is presented as an alternative approach to predicting the temporal variation in SOA mass concentrations. An analysis of the partitioning absorption models developed by Odum et al. (1996) and Hoffmann et al. (1997) has informed the development of the SOA module which has been coupled to a 3D atmospheric model. Embodied within the SOA module is the gas / aerosol partitioning theory which includes the model proposed initially by Pankow et al. (1994) and by Odum et al. (1996).

Massive stars play a key role in shaping the local Universe but their formation process remains enigmatic. Emission from the 6.67 GHz, class II masing transition of methanol has proven a powerful tracer of where massive star formation regions are at their earliest evolutionary stages. Presented here are multi-wavelength observations to investigate the molecularlionised gas and (proto) stellar populations in cores traced by methanol maser emission, with the aim of investigating the earliest evolutionary stages of massive star formation and the role of methanol masers as a diagnostic of the state that star formation has reached within a core. Observations of para-ammonia [NH3 (1,1) --- (5,5)] and 24 GHz continuum emission were taken with the Australia Telescope Compact Array towards 21 southern Galactic hot molecular cores traced by 6.7 GHz methanol maser emission. NH3 was detected toward every region. For each core we extract and fit characteristic NH3 spectra and calculate the continuum properties. We split the cores into four groups based on their observed association with NH3 , 24 GHz continuum and methanol maser emission. We find evidence based on the kinetic temperatures and gas kinematics that the cores in the groups are at different evolutionary stages. In addition, we find 24 GHz continuum emission towards some methanol masers which had no 8 GHz continuum counterparts. We posit these could be hyper-compact HII regions: more dense and younger ionised gas than the ultra-compact HII regions. The NH3 (4, 4) and (5, 5) emission is always unresolved and at the methanol maser location, suggesting the methanol masers are located at the warmest part of the core. The fact that several cold cores also contained methanol masers suggests they trace regions at stages shortly after a suitable powering source has formed, right through to relatively evolved UCHII regions. While remaining a good general tracer of young MSF regions, the presence of a methanol maser does not single out any particular evolutionary stage. High resolution (~0.36"), multiple-filter, mid-IR images using Michelle on Gemini North were taken toward three hot molecular cores signposted by methanol maser emission. We find each region contains multiple, very red, luminous (50-40,000 Leo) sources, some of which lie at extremely small angular separations corresponding to linear separations of ?1700AU. Assuming the MlR point sources are embedded stellar objects, and the observed gas mass provides the bulk of the reservoir from which the stars formed, it is difficult to generate the observed distributions for the most massive cluster members from the gas in the cores using standard forms of the IMF. Deep, wide-field J, Hand Ks images were taken with IRIS2 on the Anglo Australian Telescope, towards the massive star formation region G305.2+0.2 and combined with 3.6, 4.5, 5.8 and 8.0??m data from the GLIMPSE survey on the Spitzer Space Telescope. After removing contamination from foreground stars, sources were separated, based on their IR colour, to investigate the properties of the embedded stellar populations. While strong extended emission in the GLIMPSE images hampered investigation towards the known sites of massive star formation, a sizable population of IR excess sources are found in the surrounding region free from these completeness effects. Investigation reveals the recent star formation activity in the region is more widespread than previously known. The embedded cluster in the region, G305.24+0.204 may have played a role in triggering further sites of star formation. Finally, we investigate the distribution of IR excess sources towards the cluster, in particular their apparent lack towards the centre compared with its immediate environs.

The transit method of detecting extrasolar planets relies on the small periodic changes in the brightness of the planet's host star as the planet orbits between the observer and the star. Transiting planets are extremely useful discoveries due to the significant gain in information that can be obtained on the planet and its host star than extrasolar planets discovered with other methods. The field of transiting planets has matured rapidly in the last 5 years, particularly in the area of wide-field surveys. This thesis describes the results of two such surveys. The Vulcan South Antarctic Planet Finder was designed to exploit the conditions at the South Pole, which are ideal for a transit survey. Several hardware failures resulted in the acquisition of only a small amount of corrupted data on a single field. The University of New South Wales Extrasolar Planet Search is an ongoing transit survey using the 0.5-m Automated Patrol Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory, Australia. 25 fields were observed for 1-4 months each between 2004 October and 2007 May. Light curves were constructed for ~87,000 stars down to I= 14th magnitude, and from these 23 planet candidates were identified. Ten candidates were eliminated using higher spatial resolution archived images and online catalogue data. Eight were followed up with higher spatial resolution imaging and/or medium resolution spectroscopy and were determined to be eclipsing binaries. Five candidates remain that require additional observation to determine their nature. No planets have been confirmed in this data set thus far. The large sets of high precision light curves generated by transit surveys hold significant potential for additional data-mining. To demonstrate this, a variable star catalogue was compiled from the full data set. A total of 850 variable stars were identified, with 659 new discoveries. In the course of compiling this catalogue, the first example of a high-amplitude δ Scuti star in an eclipsing binary was identified. This represented the first opportunity for a dynamical mass measurement of a highamplitude δ Scuti star, and the system was studied comprehensively.

This thesis presents an analysis of the potential for high dynamic range direct imaging of exoplanets with a propsed off-axis Antarctic telescope named the Large Antarctic Plateau Clear-Aperture Telescope (LAPCAT). LAPCAT is a proposed 8.4 metre off-axis telescope with a deformable 1 m secondary mirror to be located at Dome C in Antarctica. The low atmospheric temperatures and minimal high altitude turbulence make Dome C a unique site for astronomical observations. The low wind speeds, the absence of dust in the atmosphere and minimal seismic activity make this a very stable site. The off-axis design of LAPCAT will assist in reducing the emissitivity of the secondary mirror and spider arms which are likely to dominate the infra-red background at these low temperatures. Low sky emissivity is also desirable for high contrast direct imaging of faint infrared sources such as exoplanets. The performance due to LAPCAT's off-axis design, adaptive optics system, and Antarctic location is quantified here. Simulations have been run to compare the point spread functions of LAPCAT, two existing mid-latitude on-axis telescopes, and a hypothetical on-axis Antarctic telescope. For comparison I chose the Keck II telescope located at Mauna Kea, Hawaii, and Gemini South situated on Cerro Paranal, Chile. Keck II is an on-axis segmented telescope and Gemini is an on-axis monolithic telescope. Under diffraction-limited, seeing-limited and adaptive-optics-corrected seeing conditions the telescopes' PSFs is compared at six different wavelengths. Simulations were run at 1.25, 1.26, 2.2, 3.4, 5, and 10 μm, using Performance of Adaptive Optics for Large Apertures (PAOLA), an analytical adaptive optics simulation package written in IDL. Having studied the effects of a typical Antarctic atmospheric turbulence profile on the PSF, LAPCAT can be expected to out-perform similar aperture telescopes located at temperate sites. Results demonstrate the intended adaptive optics system for LAPCAT allows the telescope to reach the diffraction limit. LAPCAT is able to detect a 20 MJ 5 Gyr old planet out to 10 pc, and a 5 Gyr planet less than 40 MJ out to 100 pc at 5 μm. For 1 Gyr planets the best observing wavelengths are 5 μm and 10 μm. The results demonstrate that LAPCAT is more sensitive to hot young extrasolar giant planets but is unable to directly image an exoplanet with a mass less than 4 MJ.