Neste trabalho é apresentado um estudo observacional de discos de acresção em Variáveis Cataclísmicas (VCs). São analisadas medidas espectrofotométricas com resolução temporal dos perfis de linhas de emissão. A emissividade em linhas dos sistemas é mapeada utilizando a técnica de tomografia Doppler. Os parâmetros básicos das binárias, tais como período orbital, massas, inclinação orbital, são determinados quando necessário. Um código foi desenvolvido para simular a variabilidade das linhas de emissão em sistemas binários, além da presença de vento. O código foi utilizado para quantificar os parâmetros necessários para um estudo adequado de tomografia do flickering, tais como número de espectros, relação sinal-ruído destes, e frequência e amplitude do flickering em questão. Três sistemas são abordados: V3885 Sgr, RR Pic e V841 Oph. A variabilidade intrínseca de V3885 Sgr é mapeada através da técnica de tomografia do flickering. O flickering foi simulado e verificou-se que a fonte principal de flickering observada em V3885 Sgr não poderia se originar em um disco de acresção Kepleriano, mas sim na face iluminada da estrela secundária. Uma interpretação proposta para este fenômeno seria de um cenário onde o flickering no contínuo UV originado nas regiões centrais do disco ou na mancha quente é reprocessado na face iluminada da secundária. Obtivemos a primeira confirmação, para uma Variável Cataclísmica de curto período (RR Pic), de uma secundária com relação massa/raio distante da sequência principal. No caso de V841 Oph determinamos o período orbital e obtivemos uma razão de massas um pouco inferior a 1. Verificamos a existência de uma região de emissão mais intensa localizada no quadrante oposto ao esperado para a mancha quente, sendo esta região particularmente brilhante em HeI. O disco de acresção de V841 Oph foi verificado como sendo de baixa emissividade em linhas. / An observational study of accretion disks in Cataclysmic Variables (CVs) is presented in this work. Time-resolved spectrophotometric data of the emission line profiles are analyzed. The line emissivity of the systems is mapped using the Doppler tomography technique. The basic orbital parameters of the systems, like the orbital period, mass, orbital inclination, are determined when needed. A code was developed to simulate the emission line profile variability in binary systems, also including the presence of a wind. Such a code was used to quantify the parameters involved in a flickering tomography study, like the number of spectra, signal-to-noise ratio, frequency and amplitude of the flickering. Three systems are analyzed: V3885 Sgr, RR Pic and V841 Oph. The intrinsic variability in V3885 Sgr is mapped using the flickering tomography technique. The flickering was simulated and we have verified that the main flickering source in V3885 Sgr could not be located on the Keplerian accretion disk. The inner face of the secondary star is proposed instead. One interpretation of this phenomenon is a scenery where flickering in the UV continuum from the inner parts of the accretion disk is reprocessed at the illuminated face of the secondary star. The first confirmation of a secondary star with a mass-radius relation far from the main sequence values was obtained for a CV with a short period (RR Pic). In the case of V841 Oph we determined the orbital period and obtained a mass-ratio slightly below 1. We verified the presence of a region of enhanced emission in the quadrant opposite to the one expected for the hot spot. The emission of this region is particularly enhanced in HeI. The V841 Oph accretion disk was verified as being of low emissivity in lines.

Accretion disks are ubiquitous in astrophysics. They are found in active galactic nuclei, around newly formed stars, around compact stellar objects, like black holes, neutron stars etc. When the ambient matter with sufficient initial angular momentum falls towards a central massive object, forming a disk shaped astrophysical structure, it is called an accretion disk. There are both ionized and neutral disks depending on their temperatures. Generally, in accretion disks, Gravitational force is balanced by the centrifugal force (due to the presence of angular momentum of the matter) and the forces due to gas pressure, radiation pressure and advection. Now, the matter to be accreted needs to lose angular momentum. For most of the accretion disks, the mass of the central object is much higher than the mass of the disk, giving rise to a dynamics governed by a central force. Therefore we can neglect the effect of self-gravity of the disk. Balancing the Newtonian gravitational force and centrifugal force leads to a Keplerian rotation profile of the accreting matter with the angular velocity ∼ r−3/2, where r is the distance from the central object. The Keplerian disk model is extremely useful to explain several flow classes (e.g. emission of soft X-ray in disks around stellar mass black holes). Due to the presence of differential rotation and hence shear viscosity, the matter can slowly lose its angular momentum and falls towards the central object. In this way, the accreting matter in the disk releases its gravitational potential energy and gives rise to luminosity that we observe. However, the molecular viscosity originated from the microscopic physics (due to the collisions between molecules) of the disk matter is not sufficient to explain the observed luminosity or accretion rate. For example, it can be shown that the temperature arisen from the dissipation of energy due to molecular viscosity (which is around 50000K for optical depth τ = 100) is much less than the temperature observed in these systems (around 107K). In my thesis, I have addressed the famous problem of infall of matter in astrophysical accretion disks. In general, the emphasis is given on the flows whose angular velocity decreases but specific angular momentum increases with increasing radial coordinate. Such flows, which are extensively seen in astrophysics, are Rayleigh-stable, but must be turbulent in order to explain observed data (observed temperature, as described above). Since the molecular viscosity is negligible in these systems, for a very large astrophysical length scale, Shakura and Sunyaev argued for turbulent viscosity for energy dissipation and hence to explain the infall of matter towards the central object. This idea is particularly attractive because of its high Reynolds number (Re ∼ 1014). However, the Keplerian disks, which are relevant to many astrophysical applications, are remarkably Rayleigh stable. Therefore, linear perturbation apparently cannot induce the onset of turbulence, and consequently cannot provide enough viscosity to transport matter inwards. The primary theme of my thesis is, how these accretion disks can be made turbulent in the first place to give rise to turbulent viscosity. With the application of Magnetorotational Instability (MRI) to Keplerian disks, Balbus and Hawley showed that initial seed, weak magnetic fields can lead to the velocity and magnetic field perturbations growing exponentially. Within a few rotation times, such exponential growth could reveal the onset of turbulence. Since then, MRI has been a widely accepted mechanism to explain origin of instability and hence transport of matter in accretion disks. Note that for flows having strong magnetic fields, where the magnetic field is tightly coupled with the flow, MRI is not expected to work. Hence, it is very clear that the MRI is bounded in a small regime of parameter values when the field is also weak. It has been well established by several works that transient growth (TG) can reveal nonlinearity and transition to turbulence at a sub-critical Re. Such a sub-critical transition to turbulence was invoked to explain colder, purely hydrodynamic accretion flows, e.g. quiescent cataclysmic variables, proto-planetary and star-forming disks, the outer region of the disks in active galactic nuclei etc. Baroclinic instability is another plausible source for vigorous turbulence in colder accretion disks. Note that while hotter flows are expected to be ionized enough to produce weak magnetic fields therein and subsequent MRI, colder flows may remain to be practically neutral in charge and hence any instability and turbulence therein must be hydrodynamic. However, in the absence of magnetic effects, the Coriolis force does not allow any significant TG in accretion disks in three dimensions, independent of Re, while in pure two dimensions, TG could be large at large Re. However, a pure two-dimensional flow is a very idealistic case. Nevertheless, in the presence of magnetic field, even in three dimensions, TG could be very large (Coriolis effects could not suppress the growth). Hence, in a real three-dimensional flow, it is very important to explore magnetic TG. However, as mentioned above, the charge neutral Rayleigh-stable astrophysical flows have hardly any magnetic field (e.g. protoplanetary disks, quiescent cataclysmic variables etc.). Also, the hydrodynamic Rayleigh-stable Taylor-Couette flows and plane Couette flows in the laboratory experiments are seen to be turbulent without the presence of any magnetic field, while they are shown to be stable in linear stability analysis. It is a century old unsolved problem to explain hydrodynamically, the linear instability of Couette flows and other Rayleigh-stable Flows, which are observed to be turbulent, starting from laboratory experiments to astrophysical observations. Therefore, as in one hand, the hydrodynamic instability of the astrophysical accretion flows and laboratory shear flows (e.g. Rayleighstable Taylor-Couette flow, plane Couette flow etc.) has to be understood, on the other hand, the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instability of the hotter flows has also to be investigated to understand the nature of MHD instability clearly, whether it arises due to MRI or TG. I have investigated the effect of stochastic noise (which is generated by the shearing motion of the disk layers) on the hydrodynamics and magnetohydrodynamics of accretion disks and explain how stochastic noise can make accretion Disks turbulent. It is found that such stochastically driven flows exhibit large temporal and spatial correlations of perturbations, and hence large energy dissipations of perturbation with time, which presumably generates instability and turbulence. I have also given in my thesis, a plausible resolution of the hydrodynamic turbulence problem of the accretion flows and laboratory shear flows (as discussed above) from pure hydrodynamics, invoking the idea of Brownian motion of particles. I have shown that in any shear flow, very likely, the stochastic noise is generated due to thermal fluctuations. Therefore, the shear flows must be studied including the effect of stochastically driving force and hence the governing equations should not be deterministic. Incorporating the effects of noise in the study of the above mentioned shear flows, I have shown in my thesis that hydrodynamic Rayleigh-stable flows and plane Couette flows can be linearly unstable. I have also investigated the importance of transient growth over magnetorotational instability (MRI) to produce turbulence in accretion disks. Balbus and Hawley asserted that the MRI is the fastest weak field instability in accretion disks. However, they used only the plane wave perturbations to study the instability problem. I have shown that for the flows with high Reynolds number, which are indeed the case for astrophysical accretion disks, transient growth can make the system nonlinear much faster than MRI and can be a plausible primary source of turbulence, using the shearing mode perturbations. Therefore, this thesis provides a plausible resolution of hydrodynamic turbulence observed in astrophysical accretion disks and some laboratory shear flows, such as, Rayleigh-stable Taylor-Couette flows and plane Couette flows. Moreover, this thesis also provides a clear understanding of MHD turbulence for astrophysical accretion disks.

Multi-wavelength observations provide a complementary view of the formation of young, directly imaged planetmass companions. We report the ALMA 1.3 mm and Magellan adaptive optics H alpha, i', z', and YS observations of the GQ Lup system, a classical T Tauri star with a 10-40 M-Jup substellar companion at similar to 110 au projected separation. We estimate the accretion rates for both components from the observed Ha fluxes. In our similar to 0.'' 05 resolution ALMA map, we resolve GQ Lup A's disk in the. dust continuum, but no signal is found from the companion. The disk is compact, with a radius of similar to 22 au, a dust mass of similar to 6M(circle plus), an inclination angle of similar to 56 degrees, and a very flat surface density profile indicative of a radial variation in dust grain sizes. No gaps or inner cavity are found in the disk, so there is unlikely a massive inner companion to scatter GQ Lup B outward. Thus, GQ Lup B might have formed in situ via disk fragmentation or prestellar core collapse. We also show that GQ Lup A's disk is misaligned with its spin axis, and possibly with GQ Lup B's orbit. Our analysis on the tidal truncation radius of GQ Lup A's disk suggests that GQ Lup B's orbit might have a low eccentricity.

We examine over 160 archival Hα spectra from the Ritter Observatory for the interacting binary β Lyr obtained between 1996 and 2000. The emission is characteristically double-peaked, but asymmetric, and with an absorption feature that is persistently blueshifted. Using a set of simplifying assumptions, phase varying emission line profiles are calculated for Hα formed entirely in a Keplerian disk, and separately for the line formed entirely from an off-center bipolar flow. However, a dynamic spectrum of the data indicates that the blueshifted feature is not always present, and the data are even suggestive of a drift of the feature in velocity shift. We explore whether a circumbinary envelope, hot spot on the accretion disk, or accretion stream could explain the observations. While none are satisfactory, an accretion stream explanation is somewhat promising.

Ce travail de thèse cherche à caractériser, à l'aide d’expériences de laboratoire, le mouvement d'un fluide stratifié à la fois tournant et cisaillé. Dans ce contexte on a considéré trois problèmes qui sont issus des observations géophysiques et astrophysiques où ces écoulements sont très communs. En premier nous avons observé expérimentalement et modélisé l'évolution en temps d'un anticyclone en milieu stratifié tournant, dans le but de comprendre la longévité des meddies, des vortex qui se forment à la sortie de la Méditerranée et peuvent perdurer pendant des années. Nos anticyclones modèles montrent une relaxation visqueuse anormale en raison de l’interaction entre stratification et cisaillement. Nos résultats expérimentaux ont été confirmés à l'aide d'un modèle géostrophique et de simulations numériques qui montrent aussi le rôle majeur joué par les circulations secondaires. Dans un deuxième temps nous avons considéré la stabilité linéaire de l'écoulement de Couette Plan, un des plus simple des écoulement plans cisaillés. On montre que cet écoulement devient instable lorsque l'on ajoute de la stratification verticale. Nous remarquons aussi que la structure spatiale de l'instabilité ressemble à celle de certains jets océaniques que l'on observe près de l'équateur. Enfin nous avons caractérisé une instabilité non linéaire dite des zombie vortex qui a été récemment découverte et pourrait jouer un rôle fondamental dans la déstabilisation des disques d'accrétion, une étape fondamentale de la formation des planétaire. Nous avons construit le diagramme de stabilité de la ZVI dans l'espace de trois fréquences caractéristiques et quantifié la dissipation visqueuse. / The present PhD work comes with the scope of characterizing, analysing and modelling some laboratory flows in the simultaneous presence of rotation, stratification and shear. To this aim we address three specific questions inspired by geophysics and astrophysics where these three ambient features are commonly relevant. First we characterize and model the time evolution of a compact anticyclone in a rotating and stratified laboratory flow. We aim to understand the longevity of analogous vortices known as meddies which populate the Atlantic ocean at the exit of the Mediterranean sea. We observe that viscous relaxation happens in an unusual way because of the balance between rotation and stratification. The results are confirmed by a quasi-geostrophic model and numerical simulations which show the crucial role played by secondary circulations. Secondly we consider the linear stability of one of the simplest parallel shear flow, namely the plane Couette Flow, and show that it becomes unstable when adding a vertical stratification. Interestingly the unstable pattern reminds of deep oceanic jets observed close to the equator. The signature of this instability is observed in an ad-hoc experimental flow and interpreted with the support of direct numerical simulations. Finally we characterize the behaviour of a recently disclosed finite amplitude instability, namely the zombie vortex instability or ZVI. This instability appears when rotation, stratification and shear are of the same order and may may destabilize proto-planetary disks. We construct a stability diagram for ZVI in the space of the three ambient frequencies and analyse the effect of viscous dissipation.

<p>One of the most fundamental problems in theories of planet formation in protoplanetary disks is planetary migration that arises from resonant, tidal interactions of forming planets with the natal disks. This rapid inward migration, also known as type I migration, leads to the well-known problem that its timescale is about two orders of magnitude shorter than the typical disk lifetime, so that (proto)planets plunge into the host stars within the disk lifetime. This provides a huge hurdle for understanding the statistical properties of observed extra solar planets that now amount to more than 700.</p> <p>In this thesis, we focus on one of the most general properties of protoplanetary disks - inhomogeneities. A large amount of theoretical and observational work currently suggests that protoplanetary disks are most likely to possess several kinds of inhomogeneities. Planetary migration is highly sensitive to the disk properties such as the surface density and temperature of disks, and the sensitivity leads to the formation of trapping sites for rapid type I migration at disk inhomogeneities. These local sites capturing planets undergoing migration are referred to as planet traps. We perform both analytical and numerical studies for exploring formation mechanisms of planet traps at disk inhomogeneities and their consequences for the formation and evolution of planetary systems. We focus on three kinds of the disk inhomogeneities: dead zones, ice lines, and transitions of heat sources in protoplanetary disks we refer to as heat transitions. Dead zones are an inevitable consequence of disk turbulence originating from magnetorotational instabilities (MRIs) that take place in (partially) ionized disks threaded by weak magnetic fields. One of the fundamental properties of the dead zone is a low level of turbulence there, which is the outcome of the high density, preventing the region from being ionized due to X-rays from the central stars and cosmic rays. Ice lines are formed due to low disk temperatures which lead to condensation of specific molecules there. Heat transitions arise as a consequence of the switching of the dominant heating process from viscous heating to stellar irradiation as the distance to the host stars increases.</p> <p>We summarize our major findings. 1) rapid dust settling arising in dead zones leaves a dusty wall at the outer edge of the dead zones beyond which the disks are quite turbulent, so that dust is fully mixed with the gas. Efficient heating of the wall by stellar irradiation and the subsequent backward heating of the dead zones by the wall result in a positive temperature gradient in the dead zones. This inversion in the temperature profiles leads to outward migration there. 2) Any protoplanetary disk is likely to possess up to three types of planet traps that are specified by characteristic disk radii (dead zone, ice line and heat transition traps). Disk evolution, driven by disk viscosity, lowers both the accretion rate and surface density of gas and moves traps inward at different rates. This suggests that the interactions of (proto)planets captured at different traps play the dominant role in constructing planetary system architectures. Furthermore, the distribution of planet traps depends largely on stellar masses and accretion rates, so that they are one of the principle parameters for regulating the (initial) scale of planetary systems. 3) Both multiplicity and mobility of planet traps are crucial for understanding the statistical properties of observed extra solar planets. For instance, the mass-period relation - observational manifestation that planetary mass is an increasing function of orbital periods - can be understood by constructing and following evolutionary tracks of accreting planets in planet traps. These three contribution are new results in the field.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Neste trabalho estudamos a dinâmica de discos torcidos finos e espessos para compreender melhor a propagação da deformação nestes discos. No caso dos discos finos, estudamos a física do efeito Bardeen-Petterson e aplicamos este modelo para explicar o jato em escalas de parsec e kilo-parsec da galáxia NGC 1275. Encotramos que o efeito Bardeen-Petterson reproduziu muito bem a forma do jato e com isto derivamos os parâmetros do disco como raio, valores das viscosidades azimutal e vertical, lei de potência da densidade superficial e spin do buraco negro. Para uma melhor compreensão da física destes discos, realizamos simulações GRMHD de discos moderadamente finos tanto planos como inclinados para estudar a evolução do ângulo de inclinação entre os momentos angular do buraco negro e do disco de acresção assim como o ângulo de torção que está associado com a precessão do disco. Encontramos que quando o disco de acresção e o buraco negro rotacionam no mesmo sentido, o ângulo de inclinação entre os momentos angular apresentou um comportamento oscilatório na parte interna do disco e permaneceu constante na parte externa em acordo com as previsões teóricas. Já quando o buraco negro rotacina no sentido oposto ao disco de acresção, encontramos pela primeira vez numa simulação GRMHD evidências de alinhamento, ocorrendo um alinhamento de 10\\% do angulo entre os momentos angulares do disco e buraco negro. Além disso, comprovamos pela primeira vez numa simulação GRMHD a não isotropia do stress. Utilizando um modelo semi-analítico, comparamos os resultados de nossas simulações com este modelo, utilizando os dados da simulações de disco plano como entrada e obitivemos os mesmos comportamentos das simulações tanto no caso prógrado quanto no caso retrógrado mostrando que o alinhamento é devido ao regime onda. / In this work we studied the dynamics of twisted thin and thick disks to better understand how the warp propagates in these discs. In the case of thin discs, we studied the physics of the Bardeen-Petterson effect and we applied this model to explain the shape of the jet in both parsec and kilo-parsec scales of the galaxy NGC 1275. We found that the Bardeen-Petterson effect could explain very well the shape of the jet and with that we derived the disc parameters such as its radius, the values of the kinematic azimutal and vertical viscosities, the power-law of the surface density and the spin of the black hole. To better understand the physics of such discs, we have performed GRMHD simulations of moderatelly thin tilted disks to study the evolution of the tilt angle between the angular momentum of the accretion disk and black hole and also the twist angle which is associated with the precession of the disc. We found that when the accretion disc and the black hole are rotating in the same direction, the tilt angle showed an oscillatory behavior in the inner parts of the disk while in the outer parts it remained constant in agreement with the theorical modelos. However, when both rotate in the opposite direction, we found for the very first time in a GRMHD simulation, evidences of alignment of 10\\% of the tilt angle. Besides that, we prove for the first time in a GRMHD simulation that the stress is far from being isotropic. Using a semi-analitic model, we compared the results of our simulations with this model, using the datas of the untilted simulations as inputs and we found the same behaviors found in the simulations even in prograde case as in the retrograde case showing that the alignment is due to bending waves.

Neste trabalho é apresentado um estudo observacional de discos de acresção em Variáveis Cataclísmicas (VCs). São analisadas medidas espectrofotométricas com resolução temporal dos perfis de linhas de emissão. A emissividade em linhas dos sistemas é mapeada utilizando a técnica de tomografia Doppler. Os parâmetros básicos das binárias, tais como período orbital, massas, inclinação orbital, são determinados quando necessário. Um código foi desenvolvido para simular a variabilidade das linhas de emissão em sistemas binários, além da presença de vento. O código foi utilizado para quantificar os parâmetros necessários para um estudo adequado de tomografia do flickering, tais como número de espectros, relação sinal-ruído destes, e frequência e amplitude do flickering em questão. Três sistemas são abordados: V3885 Sgr, RR Pic e V841 Oph. A variabilidade intrínseca de V3885 Sgr é mapeada através da técnica de tomografia do flickering. O flickering foi simulado e verificou-se que a fonte principal de flickering observada em V3885 Sgr não poderia se originar em um disco de acresção Kepleriano, mas sim na face iluminada da estrela secundária. Uma interpretação proposta para este fenômeno seria de um cenário onde o flickering no contínuo UV originado nas regiões centrais do disco ou na mancha quente é reprocessado na face iluminada da secundária. Obtivemos a primeira confirmação, para uma Variável Cataclísmica de curto período (RR Pic), de uma secundária com relação massa/raio distante da sequência principal. No caso de V841 Oph determinamos o período orbital e obtivemos uma razão de massas um pouco inferior a 1. Verificamos a existência de uma região de emissão mais intensa localizada no quadrante oposto ao esperado para a mancha quente, sendo esta região particularmente brilhante em HeI. O disco de acresção de V841 Oph foi verificado como sendo de baixa emissividade em linhas. / An observational study of accretion disks in Cataclysmic Variables (CVs) is presented in this work. Time-resolved spectrophotometric data of the emission line profiles are analyzed. The line emissivity of the systems is mapped using the Doppler tomography technique. The basic orbital parameters of the systems, like the orbital period, mass, orbital inclination, are determined when needed. A code was developed to simulate the emission line profile variability in binary systems, also including the presence of a wind. Such a code was used to quantify the parameters involved in a flickering tomography study, like the number of spectra, signal-to-noise ratio, frequency and amplitude of the flickering. Three systems are analyzed: V3885 Sgr, RR Pic and V841 Oph. The intrinsic variability in V3885 Sgr is mapped using the flickering tomography technique. The flickering was simulated and we have verified that the main flickering source in V3885 Sgr could not be located on the Keplerian accretion disk. The inner face of the secondary star is proposed instead. One interpretation of this phenomenon is a scenery where flickering in the UV continuum from the inner parts of the accretion disk is reprocessed at the illuminated face of the secondary star. The first confirmation of a secondary star with a mass-radius relation far from the main sequence values was obtained for a CV with a short period (RR Pic). In the case of V841 Oph we determined the orbital period and obtained a mass-ratio slightly below 1. We verified the presence of a region of enhanced emission in the quadrant opposite to the one expected for the hot spot. The emission of this region is particularly enhanced in HeI. The V841 Oph accretion disk was verified as being of low emissivity in lines.

Mes travaux de recherche portent sur l'étude du rayonnement (surtouts rayons X durs) provenant des trous noirs accrétant (dans les noyaux actifs de galaxies et les binaires X). L'objectif est d'en extraire des informations sur les conditions physique régnant dans l'environnement immédiat de ces objets. Les principales question auxquelles je tente de répondre sont les suivantes: Quelle est la structure et la géométrie de la matière accrétée au voisinage du trou noir ? Comment celle -ci évolue-t-elle avec le taux d'accrétion de masse ? Quel est la relation entre les processus d'accrétion et la formation de jets souvent observés dans ces systèmes ? Mon approche est fondée sur une comparaison précise entre les observations et les prédictions des divers modèles. Je présente les efforts poursuivis depuis près de dix ans afin de développer des outils de simulation numérique pour modéliser le transfert de rayonnement dans les plasma chauds des sources compactes X. Je montre comment ces outils ont été utilisés pour modéliser le continuum haute énergie et la variabilité des trous noirs accrétants et pour contraindre la structure du flot d'accrétion. Je présente également des résultats reposant sur l'analyse et l'interprétation d'observations menées avec des télescopes spatiaux tels que XMM-Newton et INTEGRAL ainsi que sur des d'observations simultanées à plusieurs longueurs d'ondes allant de la radio aux rayons X durs.

The current paradigm in planet formation theory is developed around a hierarquical growth of solid bodies, from interstellar dust grains to rocky planetary cores. A particularly difficult phase in the process is the growth from meter-size boulders to planetary embryos of the size of our Moon or Mars. Objects of this size are expected to drift extremely rapid in a protoplanetary disk, so that they would generally fall into the central star well before larger bodies can form. In this thesis, we used numerical simulations to find a physical mechanism that may retain solids in some parts of protoplanetary disks long enough to allow for the formation of planetary embryos. We found that such accumulation can happen at the borders of so-called dead zones. These dead zones would be regions where the coupling to the ambient magnetic field is weaker and the turbulence is less strong, or maybe even absent in some cases. We show by hydrodynamical simulations that material accumulating between the turbulent active and dead regions would be trapped into vortices to effectively form planetary embryos of Moon to Mars mass. We also show that in disks that already formed a giant planet, solid matter accumulates on the edges of the gap the planet carves, as well as at the stable Lagrangian points. The concentration is strong enough for the solids to clump together and form smaller, rocky planets like Earth. Outside our solar system, some gas giant planets have been detected in the habitable zone of their stars. Their wakes may harbour rocky, Earth-size worlds.