No description available.

In classical general relativity, the values of elds on spacetime are uniquely determined by their values at an initial time within the domain of dependence of this initial data surface. However, it may occur that the spacetime under consideration extends beyond this domain of dependence, and elds, therefore, are not entirely determined by their initial data. This occurs, for example, in the well-known (maximally) extended Reissner–Nordström or Reissner–Nordström–deSitter (RNdS) spacetimes. The boundary of the region determined by the initial data is called the ‘Cauchy horizon.’ It is located inside the black hole in these spacetimes. The strong cosmic censorship conjecture asserts that the Cauchy horizon does not, in fact, exist in practice because the slightest perturbation (of the metric itself or the matter elds) will become singular there in a sufciently catastrophic way that solutions cannot be extended beyond the Cauchy horizon. Thus, if strong cosmic censorship holds, the Cauchy horizon will be converted into a ‘nal singularity,’ and determinism will hold. Recently, however, it has been found that, classically this is not the case in RNdS spacetimes in a certain range of mass, charge, and cosmological constant. In this paper, we consider a quantum scalar eld in RNdS spacetime and show that quantum theory comes to the rescue of strong cosmic censorship. We nd that for any state that is nonsingular (i.e., Hadamard) within the domain of dependence, the expected stress-tensor blows up with afne parameter, V, along a radial null geodesic transverse to the Cauchy horizon as TVV ∼ C/V 2 with C independent of the state and C 6= 0 generically in RNdS spacetimes. This divergence is stronger than in the classical theory and should be sufcient to convert the Cauchy horizon into a singularity through which the spacetime cannot be extended as a (weak) solution of the semiclassical Einstein equation. This behavior is expected to be quite general, although it is possible to have C = 0 in certain special cases, such as the BTZ black hole

No description available.

<p>Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) are accreting supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies, known for rich spectral features and multi-time scale variability in their electromagnetic emission. The origin of the variability in AGN light curves can be either intrinsic, meaning related processes that take place inside the AGN system, or extrinsic, i.e., from the propagation of light towards Earth. In this dissertation, I present my work focusing on AGN variability. The first two works focus on the variability of blazars, a subclass of AGN with their relativistic jets beaming towards the observer. The first work combines 3D relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (RMHD) simulations with radiation transfer and shows the kink instability within the blazar jet can cause quasi-periodic radiation signatures within a typical period of time scales from weeks to months. The second work combines 2D Particle-in-Cell (PIC) simulations with radiation transfer and shows that isolated and merging plasmoids due to magnetic reconnection in a blazar environment could produce rich radiation and polarization signatures. The last work explores an extrinsic origin for AGN variability: a scenario in which interstellar medium (ISM) within our galaxy can refract light coming from AGNs. It suggests that plasma structures in ISM with an axisymmetric geometry can account for extreme scattering events (ESEs) in AGN observations. Future research directions include studies of the kink instability in jets that propagate in different environments and simulations of magnetic reconnection in 3D which may reveal additional particle acceleration mechanisms, which may play important role in the resulting radiation and polarization signatures. </p>

The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) serves as a powerful backlight, illuminating thestructures throughout the universe. As the CMB photons travel to our telescopes from the surface of last scattering, their interactions with matter imprint detectable signatures in the CMB spectrum, known as the CMB secondary anisotropies. Among these late-time phenomena, the Sunyaev–Zel’dovich (SZ) effect—caused by scattering of the CMB photons off free electrons—is one of the most powerful, providing a unique window into the pressure and density of the electron gas. As the ionized gas and its feedback on the underlying dark matter distribution via high-energy processes present a significant obstacle to obtain precise cosmological constraints from the matter power spectrum, the SZ effect serves as an invaluable tool to address these challenges. This thesis uses the measurements of the CMB secondary anisotropies, particularly the SZ effect, from the state-of-the-art experiments, the Planck satellite and the ground-based Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), in combination with Large-Scale Structure data to probe the ionized gas in distant galaxies. Chapter 2 presents the second measurement of the kinetic SZ effect in the unWISE galaxies with Planck using the projected-fields estimator. This work concludes that the ionized gas abundance in these galaxies matches the primordial-CMB predictions. Chapter 3 describes the work done to model the galaxy-halo connection of the unWISE catalog with Planck CMB lensing data using the halo model framework. It constrained the halo masses of these samples to ≈ 2 ×10¹³ _⊙/ℎ, and found that they are dominated by central galaxies, rather than satellites. These constraints can be directly used in other cross-correlations of unWISE with, e.g., the tSZ or the kSZ effect in the halo model with the upcoming CMB experiments. Chapter 5 discusses the ongoing work of cross-correlating the Dark Energy Survey Maglim galaxies with the thermal SZ maps from ACT. It measures very extended pressure profiles around Maglim, which suggest strong feedback activity in low mass objects, pushing the ionized gas far outside of the halo. This thesis also presents novel techniques to tackle the key systematics in cosmological cross-correlations. The analysis of Maglim galaxies employs the new Cosmic Infrared Background (CIB) cleaning technique, the moment-deprojection method, which ensures that the measurement is robust to this foreground. Chapter 4 discusses three new methods to remove the CIB and tSZ contamination, using the external Large-Scale Structure data which show a large correlation with both fields (e.g., the unWISE catalog). With the new methods presented, it is possible to remove those contaminants to enhance the measurements of the blackbody component of a CMB map. The results presented in this thesis offer a unique window into the baryons residing in distant galaxies through the SZ effect, confirming there is no missing baryons, and indicating that the feedback is stronger than predicted in simulations. These analyses lay the groundwork for cross-correlations of the upcoming high-resolution, low-noise CMB experiments such as the Simons Observatory, and high density galaxy surveys, including DESI, Euclid, or LSST. The upcoming measurements will yield precise constraints on gas physics, transforming our understanding of galaxy formation, and enabling cosmological constraints from the matter power spectrum, where baryons currently represent the primary uncertainty.

<p dir="ltr">Understanding the acceleration of particles responsible for high-energy non-thermal phenomena in astrophysical jets is a ubiquitous pursuit. A possible culprit for non-thermal particle acceleration is turbulence. Specifically in this thesis, I investigate highly magne- tized or relativistic turbulence, where the magnetic energy to enthalpy ratio of the plasma is much greater than one, as a possible high-energy accelerator inside relativistic jets. I do this through three distinct projects. </p><p dir="ltr">My first project [1] (discussed in Section 3) was built upon a recent study of relativistic turbulence from [2], which found that a non-thermal particle equilibrium can be achieved when a plasma is heated via turbulence but allowed to cool radiatively. I extrapolated these results from PIC (Particle-in-Cell) simulations to larger scales and magnetizations, allowing me to encode key microphysical results of PIC simulations into a Fokker-Planck formalism. Combining these results with a single zone model for a blazar jet, I successfully define the underlying particle distribution with the global parameters of the emission region. To test this model, I fit data from 12 sources and successfully constrain key blazar parameters such as magnetization, bulk Lorentz factor, emission region size, and distance from the central engine. </p><p dir="ltr">My second project covers the development and testing of the open-source toolkit Tleco. This code base was used to evolve the Fokker-Planck equation and solve the resultant emission in my first project. Tleco offers efficient algorithms for evolving particle distributions and solving the resultant emission. It is meant to be user-friendly and easily customizable. </p><p dir="ltr">My third project attempts to enhance our understanding of coherent structures in relativistic turbulence. I employ intermittency analysis to establish a link between statistical fluctuations within the plasma and regions of high-energy dissipation. To achieve this, we used first-principle turbulent PIC simulations across a range of magnetizations and fluctuating magnetic field values. By utilizing the statistical fluctuations to determine the fractal dimension of the structures, I then examine their filling fraction and its dependence on magnetization and the fluctuating magnetic field.</p>

Finding outdated views and racism in older literature is not uncommon, but the works of H.P. Lovecraft are especially rife with such instances. In the short stories “The Call of Cthulhu” and “The Horror at Red Hook”, Lovecraft attempts to horrify his readers using techniques such as nested narratives and omission of detail. However, in both of these stories, the author’s racism also becomes central in creating horror. Through frequent use of othering, as defined by McConeghy and Khair, Lovecraft describes the villainous forces present in his short stories with racist terms, creating a contrast between the racialized other and the “safe” white protagonist in order to horrify his readers. In addition, I analyze The Ballad of Black Tom in order to uncover how author Victor LaValle develops his protagonist in order to separate him from Lovecraft’s story and give him the agency that the othered, antagonistic force in “Red Hook” never had. The evil, racialized mass of people that Lovecraft describes in “Red Hook” are recontextualized by LaValle, serving as a critique of the way Lovecraft constructs his villains. The aim of this paper is to argue that Lovecraft uses racism and othering in “The Call of Cthulhu” and “The Horror at Red Hook” to terrify his readers, but that LaValle gives us a Lovecraftian horror from the perspective of the “monster” essentially in order to critique Lovecraft’s othering.

AMANDA-II ist ein Neutrino-Teleskop, das sich im Eis des Suedpols befindet. Es wurde optimiert um Spuren von hochenergetischen Myonen, die in Neutrino-Wechselwirkungen entstanden sind, anhand ihrer Emission von Cerenkov-Licht zu detektieren. In dieser Arbeit analysieren wir die Daten, die in 1001 Tagen effektiver Detektorlaufzeit in den Jahren 2000 bis 2004 gesammelt worden sind, um ein Signal von einer Neutrino-Punktquelle zu finden. Ein derartiges Signal wird von kosmischen Objekten erwartet, die Hadronen zu sehr hohen Energien beschleunigen, welche daraufhin mit Photonen und Protonen in der Umgebung des Objekts wechselwirken. Die wichtigste Signatur um ein Myon aus einer Neutrino-Wechselwirkung zu identifizieren ist eine nach oben laufende Spur. Ein Datensatz mit 4282 aufwaertslaufenden Ereignissen wurde aus den ca. 10 Milliarden im Zeitraum dieser Analyse registrierten Ereignissen extrahiert. Diese Zahl ist konsistent mit der erwarteten Anzahl atmosphaerischer Neutrinos. In der Suche nach Punktquellen wird nach einem lokalen Ereignissueberschuss in diesem Datensatz gesucht. Zuerst wird ein Katalog von Quellkandidaten untersucht. Danach wird eine Rastersuche nach unbekannten Quellen auf dem ganzen noerdlichen Himmel durchgefuehrt. Darueberhinaus werden Methoden entwickelt um die Chancen einer Detektion von Quellen zu erhoehen von denen vermutet wird, dass ihre Neutrinoemission hochvariabel ist. Kein signifikanter lokaler Ereignissueberschuss wurde im analysierten Datensatz gefunden. Deswegen berechnen wir obere Grenzen fuer Neutrinofluesse, die mit dieser Beobachtung vertraeglich sind. Die mittlere obere Flussgrenze fuer ein Neutrinospektrum dPhi/dE proportional zu E^-2, die mit dieser Analyse erreicht wird, ist E^2 dPhi/dE = 1.0^-7 GeV cm^-2 s^-1 fuer den aufaddierten Fluss von nu_mu + nu_tau unter der Annahme eines Flavor-Verhaeltnisses von 1:1. Dies entspricht der momentan niedrigsten Flussgrenze fuer Neutrinofluesse von Punktquellen. / AMANDA-II is a neutrino telescope located in the glacial ice at the South Pole. It is optimized to detect neutrino induced muon tracks with energies larger than 100 GeV by their Cerenkov light emission. We analyzed the data collected in 1001 effective days of detector operation between the years 2000 and 2004 for a signal from point-like sources of neutrinos. Such a signal is expected from cosmic objects that accelerate hadrons to very high energies, which subsequently interact with ambient protons or photons. The dominant event class recorded in AMANDA-II are muons produced in the interactions of cosmic rays in the atmosphere. Due to their energy loss, the muons cannot penetrate the Earth and have down-going directions. The main signature to identify a neutrino induced event is therefore its up-going direction. A sample of 4282 up-going events is extracted from the 10 billion events triggered in the period selected for this analysis. The search for point sources is accomplished on this data sample by looking for a localized excess over the isotropic background of atmospheric neutrinos. The procedure is applied for the directions of candidate sources, like Active Galactic Nuclei, Supernova remnants and X-ray binaries. In a second step, the full northern sky is scanned for unknown sources. Further, we investigate methods to enhance the detection chance for sources which are suspected to be highly variable neutrino emitters. No localized excess has been found in the analyzed dataset. Therefore, we calculate upper limits on the neutrino fluxes which are compatible with this observation. The average upper limit achieved for a combined nu_mu + nu_tau flux with a spectrum of dPhi/dE proportional to E^-2 is E^2 dPhi/dE = 1.0 10^-7 GeV cm^-2 s^-1 assuming a flavor ratio of 1:1. It represents the most stringent upper limit on neutrino fluxes from point-like sources reported so far.

IceTop ist ein Detektorfeld fuer kosmische Strahlung, das momentan am Suedpol errichtet wird. Es ist Teil des IceCube-Observatoriums und wird nach Fertigstellung eine Flaeche von 1km^2 ueberspannen. Es zielt auf den Nachweis von Teilchenkaskaden ab, die von kosmischer Strahlung mit Energien im PeV-Bereich induziert werden. Die Dissertation beinhaltet die erste Analyse hochenergetischer kosmischer Strahlung mit IceTop. Zunaechst wird hierfuer die Lichtausbeute der Detektortanks untersucht. Dies ermoeglicht die Erstellung einer Erwartungswertverteilung der Schauersignale, und eines entsprechenden Likelihood-Rekonstruktionsalgorithmus. Die damit erreichten Aufloesungen werden untersucht und Effizienzen berechnet. Anschliessend wird das Ansprechverhaltenn von IceTop im Bezug auf die Energie genauer evaluiert. Aus den Ergebnissen werden Faltungsmatrizen fuer unterschiedliche Primaerteilchensorten extrahiert. Darauf basierend werden zwei Entfaltungsalgorithmen vorgestellt, und vier Faltungsmatrizen fuer verschiedene Kompositionsannahmen berechnet. Im August 2007 genommene Daten werden in drei Zenithwinkel-Abschnitte eingeteilt und separat mit den Kompositionsmodellen entfaltet. Die resultierenden Spektren decken einen Energiebereich von 1-80PeV ab. Mit der Forderung isotropen Flusses lassen sich Wahrscheinlichkeiten definieren, die sensitiv sind auf die Konsistenz der Kompositionsannahmen. Diese neue Methode ermoeglicht eine Untersuchung der Komposition ohne Zuhilfenahme weiterer Detektorkomponenten. Die Analyse zeigt eine klare Praeferenz der Modelle gemischter Komposition. Schliesslich wird das Spektrum mit der hoechsten relativen Wahrscheinlichkeit untersucht. Die gemessenen Parameter stimmen innerhalb der systematischen Fehler gut mit denen anderer Experimente ueberein. Die ermittelte Position des sogenannten Knies des Spektrums ist 3,1+-0,3(stat.)+-0,3(sys.)PeV, die Exponenten davor und danach sind -2,71+-0,07(stat.) und -3,110+-0,014(stat.)+-0,08(sys.). / IceTop is a square-kilometer scale detector array for highly energetic cosmic radiation. It is a part of the IceCube Observatory that is presently being built at the geographic South Pole. It aims for the detection of huge particle cascades induced by PeV cosmic rays in the atmosphere. This thesis presents the first analysis of highly energetic cosmic ray data taken with IceTop. First, the light response of the IceTop tanks is parametrised as a function of energy and particle type. An expectation function for the distribution of shower signals in the detector plane is developed. Based on that, a likelihood reconstruction algorithm is developed and its resolution and performance is studied. The resulting energy response of the array is investigated to set up response matrices for different primary nuclei and inclinations. Two unfolding algorithms are implemented, and response matrices are modeled for four different composition assumptions. With each assumption, energy spectra are unfolded for three different bins in inclination, using a data sample taken in August 2007. The range of the spectrum is 1-80PeV. Finally, a new analysis method is developed that uses the fact that cosmic rays in the PeV range are expected to be isotropic. It is shown that this requirement can be used for a likelihood estimation that is sensitive to composition without using additional information from other detector components. The analysis shows a clear preference of the mixed composition models over pure proton or iron assumption. The spectrum with the highest likelihood shows good agreement with results from other experiments within the systematic uncertainties. The found position of the so-called knee feature is 3.1+-0.3(stat.)+-0.3(sys.)PeV, the power indices before and after that are -2.71+-0.07(stat.) and -3.110+-0.014(stat.)+-0.08 (sys.).

Die Suche nach Neutrino-Punktquellen bietet eine Möglichkeit, astrophysikalische Teilchenbeschleuniger als Quellen der Kosmischen Strahlung zu identifizieren. Eine etablierte Methode in der Neutrinoastronomie ist die Messung der Tscherenkow-Strahlung induzierter Myonen in unterirdischen Detektoren. Die hier vorgestellte Analyse basiert auf Daten, die zwischen 2007 und 2008 mit IceCube, dem größten Neutrinoteleskop dieser Art, gesammelt wurden. Bisherige Neutrino-Punktquellensuchen waren auf eine Hemisphäre beschränkt gewesen, da nur aufwärts laufende Ereignisse betrachtet wurden, um den atmosphärischen Myon-Untergrund zu eliminieren. Hier wird gezeigt, dass der Bereich über dem Horizont durch eine energieabhängige Selektion miteinbezogen werden kann. Dies erhöht die Sensitivität für Energien oberhalb einiger PeV, die bisher aufgrund von Neutrinoabsorption unterhalb des Horizonts vollkommen unzugänglich waren. Zum Nachweis richtungsabhängiger Neutrinosignale wurde eine Musterung beider Himmelshälften durchgeführt. Modellvorhersagen für Aktive Galaktische Kerne dienten als Grundlage für separate Tests anhand einer Liste von Quellkandidaten und mittels einer zeitabhängigen Suche nach kurzen Neutrinoemissionen vom Blazar 3C279. Es konnten keine signifikanten Ereignisüberschüsse über dem Untergrund beobachtet werden. Daraus leiten sich die ersten oberen Neutrino-Flussgrenzen für Punktquellen am Südhimmel bei Energien bis in den EeV Bereich ab. Für bestimmte Quellkandidaten sind es die besten Einschränkungen für Neutrinovorhersagen bei PeV Energien. Mit den gleichen Ereignissen wurde eine Suche nach Korrelationen zwischen Neutrinos und den höchstenergetischen geladenen Teilchen der Kosmischen Strahlung durchgeführt. Die Ursprungsrichtungen von Luftschauern, veröffentlicht durch das HiRes Experiment und das Pierre Auger Observatorium, dienten zur Bestimmung solcher Koinzidenzen. Das Ergebnis ist im Einklang mit den Untergrunderwartungen. / Searching for point-like neutrino signals provides a chance of identifying astrophysical particle accelerators as sources of cosmic rays. An established approach to realise high energy neutrino astronomy is the observation of Cherenkov radiation from induced muon tracks in subsurface detectors. Presented here is an analysis based on data taken between 2007 and 2008 with IceCube, the largest of these neutrino telescopes. Neutrino point source searches had been so far restricted to one hemisphere, due to the exclusive selection of upward going events as a way of rejecting the atmospheric muon background. This work demonstrates that the region above the horizon can be included by suppressing the background through an energy-sensitive event selection. The approach improves the sensitivity above PeV energies, previously not accessible at all due to absorption of neutrinos from below the horizon. Both celestial hemispheres were scanned to identify neutrino fluxes from individual directions. Based on model predictions for Active Galactic Nuclei, separate tests were performed by compiling a list of specific neutrino source candidates and by searching for short neutrino flares from the blazar 3C279. No significant excesses above the atmospheric background were found. The resulting upper limits on neutrino fluxes are the first that cover point sources in the southern sky up to the EeV energy range. For certain source candidates, these limits provide the best constraints on models predicting neutrinos above PeV energies. Based on the same event sample, a search for correlations between neutrinos and the most energetic charged cosmic rays was performed. The arrival directions of air showers, reported by the HiRes experiment and the Pierre Auger Observatory, were used to determine such coincidences. The result of this study is compatible with the background hypothesis.