Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Early quiescent galaxies at z similar to 2 are known to be remarkably compact compared to their nearby counterparts. Possible progenitors of these systems include galaxies that are structurally similar, but are still rapidly forming stars. Here, we present Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) observations of the CO(1-0) line toward three such compact, star-forming galaxies (SFGs) at z similar to 2.3, significantly detecting one. The VLA observations indicate baryonic gas fractions. greater than or similar to 5 times lower and gas depletion timescales. greater than or similar to 10 times shorter than normal, extended massive SFGs at these redshifts. At their current star formation rates, all three objects will deplete their gas reservoirs within 100 Myr. These objects are among the most gas-poor objects observed at z > 2, and are outliers from standard gas scaling relations, a result that remains true regardless of assumptions about the CO-H-2 conversion factor. Our observations are consistent with the idea that compact, SFGs are in a rapid state of transition to quiescence in tandem with the buildup of the z similar to 2 quenched population. In the detected compact galaxy, we see no evidence of rotation or that the CO-emitting gas is spatially extended relative to the stellar light. This casts doubt on recent suggestions that the gas in these compact galaxies is rotating and significantly extended compared to the stars. Instead, we suggest that, at least for this object, the gas is centrally concentrated, and only traces a small fraction of the total galaxy dynamical mass.

This paper considers a free energy functional and corresponding free boundary problem for multilayered structures which arise from a mixture of a block copolymer and a weak solvent. The free boundary problem is formally derived from the limit of large solvent/polymer segregation and intermediate segregation between monomer species. A change of variables based on Legendre transforms of the effective bulk energy is used to explicitly construct a family of equilibrium solutions. The second variation of the effective free energy of these solutions is shown to be positive. This result is used to show more generally that equilibria are local minimizers of the free energy.

La direction de mémoire constitue l'une des caractéristiques de la structure formative du deuxième cycle universitaire (Master) qui font différer celle-ci de la structure formative du premier cycle (Licence). Elle représente pour les étudiants une nouvelle relation pédagogique, et en cela, elle constitue une variable importante de la réussite de l'étudiant « masterant » à ce niveau universitaire. Pour le masterant, la réussite semble être liée à sa capacité à se familiariser à sa direction de mémoire, c'est-à-dire sa capacité à faire évoluer son métier d'étudiant (Coulon 1997), par la découverte du nouveau contrat pédagogique qui s'instaure au sein du binôme qu'il va constituer avec son directeur de mémoire. Le travail présenté cherche à mettre en évidence les liens entre la direction de mémoire et la réussite de l'étudiant en analysant la relation pédagogique de direction de mémoire en Master autour de trois dimensions : la dimension scientifique, la dimension institutionnelle et la dimension relationnelle. Pour cette recherche, des entretiens semi directifs ont été menés afin de recueillir des données sur la perception qu'ont les acteurs (masterants et directeurs de mémoire) de la direction de mémoire. Ce travail permet de mettre en relief les décalages qui existent entre la perception que se font les directeurs de mémoire et les étudiants quant à leurs rôles réciproques dans la direction de mémoire au niveau des trois dimensions scientifique, institutionnelle et relationnelle. Les résultats obtenus mettent en évidence que ces décalages sont à l'origine de ruptures du contrat, initiées soit par l'étudiant (abandon temporaire ou définitif), soit par son directeur (difficulté ou arrêt de la direction). Parallèlement, les résultats montrent les éléments moteurs du processus de familiarisation des étudiants, et pointent également les difficultés qu'ils éprouvent dans ce processus. Ce travail permet d'aboutir à une réflexion sur les conditions que l'institution universitaire peut mettre en place (en particulier via les enseignants directeurs) pour faciliter le processus de familiarisation des étudiants à la structure pédagogique spécifique au Master, et in fine, favoriser leur réussite. / Unavailable

Le travail que je présente dans cette thèse est un travail principalement expérimental effectué au sein du laboratoire LAMAp de l'Université de Cergy-Pontoise, à l'aide du dispositif expérimental appelé FORMOLISM. Les principaux composants de ce dispositif sont: l'ultravide (10-10 mbar), l'ultra-froid (~5 K), des jets atomiques, la spectrométrie de masse TPD (Thermally Programmed Desorption) et la spectroscopie laser dans l'UV mettant en oeuvre des longueurs d'onde autour de ~200 nm. Grâce à la technique REMPI-TOF (Resonantly Enhanced Multi-Photon Ionization – Time Of Flight), nous avons étudié d'une part, la conversion de spin nucléaire de la molécule d'hydrogène H2 sur une surface de glace d'eau amorphe poreuse et d'autre part les processus de formation de cette molécule, qui est la plus abondante dans le milieu interstellaire, sur des surfaces simulant des grains de poussière interstellaire. Les résultats de cette étude présentent un intérêt capital en astrophysique. En effet cette formation ne peut se produire en phase gaz mais peut être expliquée par la rencontre de deux atomes d'hydrogène sur un grain de poussière du milieu interstellaire qui joue le rôle de catalyseur. Différents processus sont impliqués dans la formation de H2 qu'il s'agit d'identifier. Dans ce but, je présente des résultats entièrement nouveaux sur la formation de H2 moléculaire sur une surface de silicate amorphe. Je montre que la molécule peut se former dans un état rovibrationnellement excité de son niveau fondamental jusqu'à une température d'environ 70K et qu'elle est relâchée dans la phase gaz immédiatement après sa formation. Ces résultats démontrent la compétition entre deux mécanismes de formation à très basses température (<18 K) tandis qu'un autre mécanisme prend le relais jusqu'à 70K. / The work that I present in this thesis is primarily an experimental work carried out in the LAMAp laboratory at the University of Cergy-Pontoise, using the experimental device called FORMOLISM. The main components of this device are: ultra-high vacuum (10-10 mbar), ultra-low temperature (~5 K), atomic jets, TPD mass spectrometry (Thermally Programmed Desorption) and laser spectroscopy using ultraviolet wavelengths around ~200 nm. Thanks to the REMPI-TOF (Resonantly Enhanced Multi-Photon Ionization – Time Of Flight) technique, we have studied i) the nuclear spin conversion of the hydrogen molecule H2 on a porous amorphous water ice surface and ii) the processes of formation of this molecule, which is the most abundant in the interstellar medium, on surfaces simulating interstellar dust grains. The results of this study are of capital interest in astrophysics. Actually, this formation cannot occur in the gas phase but can only be explained by the encounter of two hydrogen atoms on a dust grain in the interstellar medium, the latter playing the role of a catalyst. Different processes are involved in the formation of H2 which require to be identified. With this aim, I present entirely new results on molecular H2 formation on an amorphous silicate surface. I show that the molecule can form in a rovibrationnally excited state of its ground state up to a temperature of about 70 K and that the molecule is released into the gas phase immediately after its formation. These results demonstrate the competition between two mechanisms of formation at very low temperature (<18 K) while another mechanism takes over up to 70 K.

I review theoretical expectations for the probable appearance of galaxies during their formation phase, placing particular emphasis on the uncertainties in these ideas. Recent models suggest that formation may occur relatively recently, but that young galaxies are less spectacular than previously supposed. They may be analogous to recently discovered high red - shift radio galaxies, and indeed they may have been observed directly in faint galaxy counts. I summarise several other lines of evidence which suggest that galaxy formation may have been a recent process. Finally I give preliminary results from a detailed analytic study of the observable properties of young galaxies in a Cold Dark Matter universe. Predictions are given for faint galaxy counts and redshift distributions, and for the galaxy luminosity function.

This thesis proposes a continuous low-thrust guidance and control strategy for satellite formation-flying. Stabilizing feedback based on mean relative orbit elements and Lyapunov theory is used. A novel feedback gain matrix inspired by the fuel-optimal impulsive solution is designed to achieve near-optimal fuel consumption. A reference governor is developed to autonomously guide the spacecraft through the relative state-space in order to allow for arbitrarily constrained satellite formations. Constraints include desired  thrust levels, time constraints, passive collision avoidance and locally constrained state-space areas. Keplerian dynamics are leveraged to further decrease fuel consumption. Simulations show fuel consumptions of only 4% higher delta-v than the fuel-optimal impulsive solution. The proposed control and guidance strategy is tested in a high-fidelity orbit propagation simulation using MATLAB/Simulink. Numerical simulations include orbit perturbations such as atmospheric drag, high-order geopotential, solar radiation pressure and third-body (Moon and Sun) effects. Test cases include reconfiguration scenarios with imposed wall, thrust and time constraints and a formation maintenance experiment as flown by TanDEM-X, the TanDEM-X Autonomous Formation-Flying (TAFF) experiment.

We present Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array 1.3, 3.6, and 6 cm continuum maps of compact radio sources in the Orion Nebular Cluster (ONC). We mosaicked 34 arcmin(2) at 1.3 cm, 70 arcmin(2) at 3.6 cm and 109 arcmin(2) at 6 cm, containing 778 near-infrared detected young stellar objects and 190 Hubble Space Telescope-identified proplyds (with significant overlap between those characterizations). We detected radio emission from 175 compact radio sources in the ONC, including 26 sources that were detected for the first time at these wavelengths. For each detected source, we fitted a simple free-free and dust emission model to characterize the radio emission. We extrapolate the free-free emission spectrum model for each source to ALMA bands to illustrate how these measurements could be used to correctly measure protoplanetary disk dust masses from submillimeter flux measurements. Finally, we compare the fluxes measured in this survey with previously measured fluxes for our targets, as well as four separate epochs of 1.3 cm data, to search for and quantify the variability of our sources.

Host star metallicity provides a measure of the conditions in protoplanetary disks at the time of planet formation. Using a sample of over 20,000 Kepler stars with spectroscopic metallicities from the LAMOST survey, we explore how the exoplanet population depends on host star metallicity as a function of orbital period and planet size. We find that exoplanets with orbital periods less than 10 days are preferentially found around metal-rich stars ([Fe/H] similar or equal to 0.15 +/- 0.05 dex). The occurrence rates of these hot exoplanets increases to similar to 30% for super-solar metallicity stars from similar to 10% for stars with a sub-solar metallicity. Cooler exoplanets, which reside at longer orbital periods and constitute the bulk of the exoplanet population with an occurrence rate of greater than or similar to 90%, have host star metallicities consistent with solar. At short orbital periods, P < 10 days, the difference in host star metallicity is largest for hot rocky planets (< 1.7 R-circle plus), where the metallicity difference is [Fe/H] similar or equal to 0.25 +/- 0.07 dex. The excess of hot rocky planets around metal-rich stars implies they either share a formation mechanism with hot Jupiters, or trace a planet trap at the protoplanetary disk inner edge, which is metallicity dependent. We do not find statistically significant evidence for a previously identified trend that small planets toward the habitable zone are preferentially found around low-metallicity stars. Refuting or confirming this trend requires a larger sample of spectroscopic metallicities.

One of the key questions in the field of star formation is the role of stellar feedback on the subsequent star formation process. The W3 giant molecular cloud complex at the western border of the W4 super bubble is thought to be influenced by the massive stars in W4. This paper presents a study of the star formation activity within AFGL. 333, a similar to 104 M-circle dot cloud within W3, using deep JHK(s) photometry obtained from the NOAO Extremely Wide Field Infrared Imager combined with Spitzer IRAC and MIPS photometry. Based on the infrared excess, we identify 812 candidate young stellar objects (YSOs) in the complex, of which 99 are Class I and 713 are Class II sources. The stellar density analysis of YSOs reveals three major stellar aggregates within AFGL. 333, namely AFGL. 333 Main, AFGL. 333 NW1 and AFGL. 333 NW2. The disk fraction within AFGL. 333 is estimated to be similar to 50%-60%. We use the extinction map made from the H - K-s colors of the background stars and CO data to understand the cloud structure and to estimate the cloud mass. From the stellar and cloud mass associated with AFGL. 333, we infer that the region is currently forming stars with an efficiency of similar to 4.5% and at a rate of similar to 2-3M(circle dot) Myr(-1) pc(-2). In general, the star formation activity within AFGL. 333 is comparable to that of nearby low mass star-forming regions. We do not find any strong evidence to suggest that the stellar feedback from the massive stars of nearby W4 super bubble has affected the global star formation properties of the AFGL. 333 region.