Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Supervisor: Richard Matzner. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI company.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 90-94).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Victoria University of Wellington, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

The fuzzball model of a black hole is an attempt to resolve the many paradoxes and puzzles of black hole physics that have revealed themselves over the last century. These badly behaved solutions of general relativity have given physicists one of the few laboratories to test candidate quantum theories of gravity. Though little is known about exactly what lies beyond the event horizon, and what the ultimate fate of matter that falls in to a black hole is, we know a few intriguing and elegant semi-classical results that have kept physicists occupied. Among these are the known black hole entropy and the Hawking radiation process.

Black hole spin is an essential parameter, for it provides us with the infor- mation on the black hole formation and growth. In this Thesis, we simulated observations for an upcoming X-ray polarimetric mission IXPE (Imaging X- ray Polarimetry Explorer) with the aim to study the robustness of black hole spin and inclination measured via X-ray polarimetry. To simulate polarization spectra, we used a multicolor blackbody emission model accounting for thermal radiation from the accretion disk. For the case of maximally rotating black hole (spin a = 0.998), we were able to reconstruct both spin and inclination of the system with a high precision (∆a ≤ 0.2 for spin and ∆θ ≤ 15 deg for inclination). For less rotating black holes, the spin was correctly recovered, but with a large uncertainty. The inclination is well constrained for any spin value. We conclude that polarimetric measurements will be useful to make independent black hole spin measurements, that would be compared with the spectral-fitting and timing methods. Therefore, X-ray polarimetric missions will be highly desirable. 1

We firstly numerically recalculate the Ricci tensor of non-stationary axisymmetric space-times (originally calculated by Chandrasekhar) and we find some discrepancies both in the linear and non-linear terms. However, these discrepancies do not affect the results concerning linear perturbations of a Schwarzschild black hole. Secondly, we use these Ricci tensors to derive the Zerilli and Regge-Wheeler equations and use the Newman-Penrose formalism to derive the Bardeen-Press equation. We show the relation between these equations because they describe the same linear perturbations of a Schwarzschild black hole. Thirdly, we illustrate heuristically (when the angular momentum (l) is 2) the relation between the linearized solution of the Einstein vacuum equations obtained from the Bondi-Sachs metric and the Zerilli equation, because they describe the same linear perturbations of a Schwarzschild black hole. Lastly, by means of a coordinate transformation, we extend Chandrasekhar's results on linear perturbations of a Schwarzschild black hole to the Bondi-Sachs framework. / Mathematical Sciences / M. Sc. (Applied Mathematics)

xv, 177 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / In this dissertation, three different topics related to terascale physics are explored. First, a new method is suggested to match next-to-leading order (NLO) scattering matrix elements with parton showers. This method is based on the original approach which adds primary parton splittings in Born-level Feynman graphs in order to remove several types of infrared divergent subtractions from the NLO calculation. The original splitting functions are modified so that parton showering has a less severe effect on the jet structure of the generated events. We also examine the Large Hadron Collider phenomenology of quantum black holes in models of TeV scale gravity. Based on a few minimal assumptions, such as the conservation of color charges, interesting signatures are identified that should be readily visible above the Standard Model background. The detailed phenomenology depends heavily on whether one requires a Lorentz invariant, low-energy effective field theory description of black hole processes. Finally, in the calculation of cross sections in high energy collisions at NLO, one option is to perform all of the integrations, including the virtual loop integration, by Monte Carlo numerical integration. A new method is developed to perform the loop integration directly, without introducing Feynman parameters, after suitably deforming the integration contour. Our example is the N-photon scattering amplitude with a massless electron loop. Results for six photons and eight photons are reported. / Committee in charge: Stephen Hsu, Chairperson, Physics; Graham Kribs, Member, Physics; David Strom, Member, Physics; Davison Soper, Member, Physics; Marina Guenza, Outside Member, Chemistry

A search for quantum black holes with color charge decaying to one electron and one quark has been performed using data collected by the ATLAS Experiment at the Large Hadron Collider corresponding to 2.29 fb−1. No excess over the expected Standard Model interactions has been observed. Limits are set on the production cross section for events with one electron and one jet resulting from new physical phenomena. Models with a combined invariant mass of the electron and jet larger than or equal to 2.5TeV and a cross section above 2.6 fb are excluded at the 95% confidence level. This allows the exclusion of a significant part of the parameter space of quantum black hole models.