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The electrodynamic interaction of Ganymede’s mini-magnetosphere with Jupiter’s corotating magnetospheric plasma has been shown to give rise to strong current systems closing through the moon and its ionosphere as well as through its magnetopause and magnetotail current sheet. This interaction is strongly evidenced by the presence of aurorae at Ganymede and of a bright Ganymede footprint on Jupiter’s ionosphere. This footprint is located equatorward of the main auroral emissions, at the magnetic longitude of the field line threading Ganymede. The brightness of Ganymede’s auroral footprint at Jupiter along with its latitudinal position have been shown to depend on the position of Ganymede relative to the center of the Jovian plasma sheet. Additionally, observations using the Hubble Space Telescope showed that Ganymede’s auroral footprint brightness is characterized by variations of three different timescales: 5 hours, 10-40 minutes, and ~100 seconds. The goal of the present study is to examine the relationship between the longest and the shortest timescale periodicities of Ganymede’s auroral footprint brightness and the local processes occurring at Ganymede. This is done by coupling a specifically developed brightness model to a three-dimensional multifluid model which tracks the energies and fluxes of the various sources of charged particles that precipitate into Ganymede’s ionosphere to generate the aurora. It is shown that the predicted auroral brightnesses and morphologies agree well with observations of Ganymede’s aurora from the Hubble Space Telescope. Our results also suggest the presence of short- and long-period variabilities in the auroral emissions at Ganymede due to magnetic reconnections on the magnetopause and in the magnetotail, and support the hypothesis of a correlation between the variability of Ganymede’s auroral footprint on Jupiter’s ionosphere and the variability in the brightness and morphology of the aurora at Ganymede. Finally, the modeled aurora at Ganymede reveals that the periodicities in the morphology and brightness of the auroral emissions are produced by two different dynamic reconnection mechanisms. The Jovian flow facing side aurora is generated by electrons sourced in the Jovian plasma and penetrating into Ganymede’s ionosphere through the cusps above the separatrix region. In this case, the reconnection processes responsible for the auroral emissions occur on Ganymede’s magnetopause between the Jovian magnetic field lines and the open magnetic field lines threading Ganymede’s Polar Regions. As for the magnetotail side aurora, it is generated by electrons originating from Ganymede’s magnetospheric flow. These electrons are accelerated along closed magnetic field lines created by magnetic reconnection in Ganymede’s magnetotail, and precipitate into Ganymede’s ionosphere at much lower latitudes, below the separatrix region.

The work presented in this thesis describes an investigation into the properties and behaviour of a new class of nonlinear optical organic chromophores. This study contributes to the optimisation of nonlinear optical molecules through an improved understanding of the relationships between the molecular nonlinear optical properties and the measured macroscopic quantities. A series of highly dipolar non-linear optical chromophores with absorption typically in the range of 350-500 nm have been synthesised by the reactions of amines with tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ). One of the advantages of these materials is the large molecular figure of merit (μβ where μ is the molecular dipole moment and P is the second order polarisability), which theoretically allows large nonlinear optical coefficients to be obtained. The molecular dipole moments of these chromophores were determined both experimentally and theoretically, and were found to agree. The nonlinear optical properties of these compounds in solution were studied using an electric field induced second harmonic generation (EFISH) technique. The measurements of μβ at 1064 nm and 1907 nm in chloroform and acetone are presented. Moderate μβ values were obtained but β is found to be unexpectedly small in chloroform and shows unusual dispersion characteristics in this solvent compared to acetone. Further concentration investigations revealed features that suggest the presence of aggregates within solution. Optical spectroscopy measurements provide evidence of new species whose presence and conformation were found to be solvent-dependent. The results of this work highlight the need for an entire concentration range to be studied if accurate determination of molecular properties of highly dipolar molecules is required. Guest-host polymer films of these materials have been corona poled using a constant current corona triode. Detailed characterisation studies of the second order nonlinearities using second harmonic generation (SHG) were compared to a less dipolar molecule. These investigations showed that the highly dipolar TCNQ derivatives show severe aggregation within the polymer films. The magnitude of the SHG that can be obtained from such systems is therefore limited by this aggregation.

A reflection retarder is a device that induces a change in the phase between the parallel and perpendicular components, of the electric field, to the plane of incidence while maintaining the relative amplitudes. A film-substrate reflection retarder is a reflection retarder that only consists of a film-substrate system. Film-substrate reflection retarders have been previously studied in the negative, zero, and positive systems. The type of system is determined by the relationship between the refractive index of the ambient N0, film N1, and substrate N2: if N1<(N0*N2)^(1/2) , the system is negative; if N1=(N0*N2)^(1/2), the system is zero; if N1>(N0*N2)^(1/2), the system is positive. It has been determined that is the condition required to achieve reflection retarders, in general. Angle-of-incidence tunable (AIT) retarder designs have not been investigated for the zero system, but have been studied in the negative system. An exact retarder in the zero system only exists at a single angle of incidence and a corresponding single film thickness. By approximating the retarder condition to allow the relative amplitudes to be within 5% of the exact value of unity, it is possible to realize unique AIT retarders in the zero system: retarders that can be operated over a continuous range of angles of incidence resulting in a large range of phase shifts approaching 360°. It is possible to have multiple angles of incidence with a difference of between their respective phase shifts. By inducing a phase shift of, it is possible to modulate the polarization of light. By employing an approximation of the retarder condition, AIT retarder designs were developed. The design’s tolerance to changes in design parameters is analyzed and discussed.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2007. / Additional advisors: Susan Bellis, Vladimir Fast, Chi-Tsou Huang, Donald Muccio. Description based on contents viewed June 23, 2009; title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chemical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Chair: Hsieh, Jeffery; Committee Member: Breedveld, Victor; Committee Member: Empie, Jeff; Committee Member: Forney, Larry; Committee Member: Singh, Preet

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-123).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 114-121).

Η εργασία θα ασχοληθεί με το θέμα των Ενεργειακών Τόπων. Παρά το γεγονός ότι πρόκειται για ένα θέμα εξαιρετικά πολυδιάστατο, θα επεκταθώ μονάχα σε τμήματα για τα οποία έχω αρκετές πηγές, ώστε να κατανοήσω έστω μερικώς το εκάστοτε φαινόμενο. Στο εισαγωγικό κεφάλαιο που ακολουθεί θα προσπαθήσω να κατατοπίσω τον αναγνώστη όσον αφορά το τι ακριβώς μπορούμε να ορίσουμε ως ενεργειακό τόπο, καθώς επίσης θα αναλυθούν ορισμένοι από τους κύριους μηχανισμούς που γενούν έναν ενεργειακό τόπο. Στα επόμενα κεφάλαια θα αναλυθούν χωριστά το φαινόμενο των κύκλων στα σπαρτά και στη συνέχεια θα αναφερθούμε στα μεγαλιθικά μνημεία, όπου βλέπουμε προσπάθειες του ανθρώπου να δαμάσει τα ηλεκτρικά πεδία για την καθημερινή του επιβίωση. / The main purpose of this assignment is to point out some basic aspects of sacred sites and the mechanisms that define them. The chapters refer to some well known physical phenomena which play a vital role in the forming of such a site. Also it refers to crop circles, megalithic structures and human sensitivity to vasrious fields in nature, mainly electric and magnetic in nature.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / In this Thesis we studied through first principles methods the effects of uniform transversal electric fields on the structural and electronic properties of carbon nanotubes. We study the formation of Si-doped carbon nanotubes through the interaction of Si with single-vacant nanotubes and investigate the action of electric fields on semiconducting and metallic carbon nanotubes, both pure carbon, carboxylated or Si-doped nanotubes. All investigations were done using computational first principles simulations based on the density functional theory using the SIESTA code. Firstly, we show that carbon nanotubes with single vacancies are highly reactive centers, which can be used as adsorbing sites for selected substances to form covalent bonds on surface. This feature is used to investigate the possibility of forming Si-doped carbon nanotube, analyzing possible energetic barriers and observing the steps of the structural rearrangement to the complete stabilization. The effect of the transversal electric field applied on carbon nanotubes was also investigated. The applied field has a remarkable influence on electronic structure of the semiconductor carbon nanotubes, leading to a band gap decreasing which is dependent on the field intensity and nanotube radius, including a possible semiconductormetal transition. It is also observed that the electric field induces electric polarization and a comparison between semiconductor and metal tubes is presented. In the same way, the action of transversal electric fields on semiconductor and metallic carbon nanotubes functionalized with carboxylic group was estimated. We observe that the presence of carboxyl in the nanotube surface modifies the response to the electric field, leading to considerable alterations on the electronic structure of the original system, such as energy bands, inducing an electric polarization and charge transfers between the adsorbed molecules and the carbon nanotube. Therefore, we also study the electric fields action on carboxylated Si-doped carbon nanotubes. The electronic and structural properties of these systems are analyzed and the results discussed. / Na presente Tese estudamos através de métodos de primeiros princípios os efeitos de campos elétricos uniformes transversais sobre as propriedades eletrônicas e estruturais de nanotubos de carbono. Apresentamos o estudo da formação de nanotubos de carbono dopados com Si através da interação com nanotubos apresentando vacâncias simples e investigamos a ação de campos elétricos sobre nanotubos de carbono semicondutores e metálicos, sejam eles puros, funcionalizados por ácido carboxílico ou dopados com Si. Toda investigação foi realizada através de simulações computacionais baseadas na teoria do funcional da densidade, utilizando-se, para tanto, o código computacional SIESTA. Uma revisão teórica dos métodos é apresentada, bem como as justificativas de emprego desta metodologia. Mostramos inicialmente que nanotubos de carbono apresentando vacâncias simples constituem um centro de alta reatividade, que pode ser empregado para adsorver substâncias de interesse e formar ligações covalentes com sua superfície. Utilizamos esta característica para investigar a possível formação de um nanotubo dopado com Si, analisando possíveis barreiras de energia e observando os diversos passos de rearranjo estrutural até a estabilização do sistema. Apresentamos, em seguida, os efeitos de campos elétricos transversais sobre nanotubos de carbono. Mostramos que campos elétricos transversais têm efeitos marcantes sobre a estrutura eletrônica de nanotubos semicondutores, provocando uma diminuição do gap de banda que depende da intensidade do campo aplicado e do raio do nanotubo, podendo ocorrer uma transição semicondutor-metal. Observamos que estes campos provocam uma polarização dos nanotubos, e apresentamos as diferenças observadas nesta resposta por nanotubos semicondutores e metálicos. Estudamos a ação de campos elétricos transversais sobre nanotubos semicondutores e metálicos funcionalizados com carboxila. Observamos que a presença deste grupo na superfície permite uma nova resposta aos campos elétricos, levando a alterações substanciais nas propriedades eletrônicas do sistema, como bandas de energia e densidades de estado, além de modificar a população eletrônica, levando à polarização do sistema. Finalizamos esta Tese com o estudo da ação de campos elétricos sobre nanotubos dopados com Si e com o sistema formado por um nanotubo dopado com Si e funcionalizados com ácido carboxílico. A influência destas modificações estruturais sobre as propriedades eletrônicas são apresentadas e os resultados, discutidos. Apresentamos, finalmente, as conclusões pertinentes a este trabalho, com suas implicações e possíveis conexões com a prática de realização experimental.