Remarkably, the central regions of galaxies are very important in shaping and influencing galaxies as a whole. As such, galaxy cores can be used for classification, to determine which processes may be important in galaxy formation and evolution. Past studies, for example, have found a dichotomy in the inner slopes of early-type galaxy surface brightness profiles. Using deprojections of the galaxies from the ACS Virgo and Fornax Cluster Surveys (ACSVCS/FCS), we show that, in fact, this dichotomy does not exist. Instead, we demonstrate that the brightest early-type galaxies tend to have central light deficits, a trend which gradually transitions to central light excesses – also known as compact stellar nuclei – as we go to fainter galaxies. This effect is quantified, and can be used to determine what evolutionary factors are important as we move along the galaxy luminosity function. The number of stellar nuclei that we observe is, in fact, an unexpected result emerging from the ACSVCS/FCS. Being three times more common than previously thought, they are present in the vast majority of intermediate and low-luminosity galaxies. Conversely, it has been known for over a decade that there is likely a supermassive black hole weighing millions to billions of solar masses at the center of virtually every galaxy of sufficient size. These black holes are known to follow scaling relations with their host galaxies. Using the ACSVCS, along with new kinematical data from long-slit spectroscopy, we measure the dynamical masses of 83 galaxies, and show that supermassive black holes and nuclei appear to fall along the same scaling relation with host mass. Both represent approximately 0.2% of their host’s mass, implying an important link between the two types of central massive objects. Finally, we extract elliptical isophotes and fit parameterized models to the surface brightness profiles of new Hubble Space Telescope imaging of the ACSVCS galaxies, observed in infrared and ultraviolet bandpasses. Taken together, the two surveys represent an unprecedented collection of isophotal and structural parameters of early-type galaxies, and will allow us to learn a great deal about the stellar populations and formation histories of galaxy cores. / Graduate

Cette thèse vise à étudier le phénomène dit de " cascades électromagnétiques cosmologiques ". Ces cascades sont typiquement générées dans le milieu intergalactique par l'absorption de rayons gamma sur les photons du fond optique / UV et par la production de paires électron / positron associés. Ces leptons eux-mêmes interagissent avec les photons du fond diffus cosmologique via diffusion inverse Compton pour produire de nouveaux rayons gamma qui eux même peuvent s'annihiler, générant à partir d'un unique photon primaire toute une gerbe de photons et de particules secondaires. D'un point de vue observationnel, le développement de cette cascade introduit trois effets : une déformation du spectre à haute énergie, un retard temporel dans l'arrivée des rayons gamma et une extension de la taille apparente de la source. Les cascades électromagnétiques cosmologiques ont commencé à être étudiées dans les années soixante. Mais ce n'est qu'à partir des années 2010 avec l'arrivée du satellite Fermi (entre autres) et des observations dans la bande au GeV et au TeV que la discipline a explosé. Le phénomène est particulièrement important. D'une part il altère le spectre observé des sources rendant difficile la compréhension de la physique de ces dernières. D'autre part les cascades se développant dans le milieu extragalactique, elles sont très sensibles à la composition de ce dernier (fond diffus de photons, champ magnétique). Or ce milieu étant très ténu, il est difficile à étudier. Les cascades deviennent alors une formidable sonde pour accéder à sa compréhension et pouvoir en comprendre l'origine qui remonte au commencement de l'Univers. Pourtant les cascades cosmologiques sont un phénomène complexe faisant intervenir des interactions difficiles à modéliser (sections efficaces complexes) et le transport de particules dans un Univers en expansion (cosmologie). Face à cette complexité les expressions analytiques sont vite limitées et le passage au numérique devient inévitable. Dans le cadre de cette thèse un code de simulation Monte Carlo a donc été développé visant à reproduire aussi précisément que possible le phénomène des cascades. Ce code a été testé et validé en le confrontant aux expressions analytiques. Grâce à ce code, le rôle des différents paramètres physiques impactant le développement de la cascade a été étudié de manière systématique. Cette étude a permis de mieux comprendre la physique du phénomène. En particulier, l'impact des propriétés du milieu extragalactique (fond diffus extragalactique, champ magnétique extragalactique) sur les observables a été mis en évidence. Finalement, une seconde étude a été menée pour mesurer la contribution des cascades au fond gamma extragalactique. Des travaux récents montrent qu'une grande partie de l'émission diffuse à très haute énergie provient de sources ponctuelles non résolues (blazars en particulier). Ces sources gamma (résolues et non résolues) doivent en principe initier des cascades qui peuvent contribuer au fond diffus. En partant d'une modélisation de l'émission des blazars à différents redshifts, l'absorption et la contribution des cascades ont alors été calculées à l'aide du code Monte Carlo. Les résultats montrent que la contribution des cascades au fond gamma extragalactique pourrait violer les limites Fermi mais l'excès doit encore être confirmé. / This thesis aims at studying "cosmological electromagnetic cascades". These cascades are initiated by the absorption of very high energy gamma-rays through gamma-gamma annihilation with optical / UV background photons of the intergalactic medium. In this interaction, electron/positron pairs are produced. The newly created leptons interact with photons of the Cosmological Microwave Background producing new gamma-rays through inverse Compton scattering which can also annihilate producing a cascade of secondary particles from a single primary photon. Observationally, the development of this cascade has three effects : the observed high energy spectrum is altered, observed photons arrive with a time delay with respect to primary photons and the source appears extended. Cosmological electromagnetic cascades start to being studied in the early sixties. But it is during the 2010's with the Fermi satellite and GeV to TeV observations that the field has really started to being explored. In the fast evolving backgound of gamma-ray astronomy, understanding the cascade physics has become a crucial stake. First the observed spectrum from a distant source is altered, which directly affects the modelling of high energy sources. Secondly, the cascades develop in the extragalactic medium and are very sensitive to its composition (background light, magnetic field). This medium is hard to study because it is extremely thin. Hence the cosmological cascades are a formidable probe to access its comprehension and its origin coming from the very beginning of our Universe. Yet the cosmological cascades are a complex phenomenon which involves complicated interactions (complex cross sections) and transport of particles in an expanding Universe. Analytical expressions are rapidly limited and numerical computations are required. In this thesis a Monte Carlo simulation code has been developed aiming at reproducing the cosmological cascades. This code has been tested and validated against analytical expressions. With the simulation code, a systematic study of the parameters impacting the development of the cascade has been led. This study allows a better understanding of the cascade physics. Especially, the impact of the intergalactic medium properties (extragalactic background light, extragalactic magnetic field) on the observables has been highlighted. Finally, a second study has been done to measure the contribution of cascades to the extragalactic gamma ray background. Recent works show that a great part of the diffuse emission at very high energy is explained by unresolved sources (blazars in particular). These gamma sources (resolved and unresolved) must in principle initiate cosmological cascades which can also contribute to the extragalactic gamma ray background. Starting from a modeling of the blazars at different redshifts, absorption and contribution of the cascades have been estimated with the simulation code. The results show that the contribution of the cascades might violate the Fermi limits but the excess must be confirmed.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:14:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 AlexandroPL_TESE.pdf: 2798961 bytes, checksum: 9735b37fb7ae9f7941354be3346a5719 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-06-28 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico / Double radio sources have been studied since the discovery of extragalactic radio sources in the decade of 1930. Since then, several numerical studies and analytical models have been proposed seeking a better understanding of the physical phenomena that determines the origin and evolution of such objects. In this thesis, we intended to study the evolution problem of the double radio sources in two fronts: in the ?rst we have developed an analytical self-similar model that represents a generalization of most models found in the literature and solve some existent problems related to the jet head evolution. We deal with this problem using samples of hot spot sizes to ?nd a power law relation between the jet head dimension and the source length. Using our model, we were able to draw the evolution curves of the double sources in a PD diagram for both compact sources (GPS and CSS) and extended sources of the 3CR catalogue. We have alson developed a computation tool that allows us to generate synthetic radio maps of the double sources. The objective is to determine the principal physical parameters of those objects by comparing synthetic and observed radio maps. In the second front, we used numeric simulations to study the interaction of the extra- galactic jets with the environment. We simulated situations where the jet propagates in a medium with high density contrast gas clouds capable to block the jet forward motion, forming the distorted structures observed in the morphology of real sources. We have also analyzed the situation in which the jet changes its propagation direction due to a change of the source main axis, creating the X-shaped sources. The comparison between our simulations and the real double radio sources, enable us to determine the values of the main physical parameters responsible for the distortions observed in those objects / As radio fontes duplas tem sido amplamente estudadas desde a descoberta da existencia das radio fontes extragalacticas na decada de 1930. Ha algumas decadas, estudos numericos e modelos analiticos tem sido propostos com o intuito de se obter uma melhor compreensao dos fenomenos f?sicos que determinam a origem e evolu?cao de tais objetos. Nesta tese, nos propusemos a estudar o problema da evolucao das radio fontes duplas em duas frentes: na primeira desenvolvemos um modelo anal?tico auto-similar que, alem de corresponder a uma generalizacao da maioria dos modelos existentes na literatura, e capaz ainda de resolver alguns problemas existentes quanto ?a evolucao da cabeca do jato extragalactico. Nos usamos amostras de tamanhos de hot spots" para encontrar uma relacao em lei de potencia entre as dimensoes da cabeca do jato e o comprimento da fonte. Atraves do nosso modelo, constru?mos as curvas de evolucao de uma radio fonte dupla em um diagrama PD (diagrama que relaciona a potencia radio e a dimensao da fonte) desde fontes compactas (GPS e CSS) ate fontes extensas do catalogo 3CR. Desenvolvemos ainda uma ferramenta computacional que nos permite gerar mapas sinteticos das radio fontes duplas cujo objetivo e determinar os principais parametros fsicos desses objetos atraves da comparacao entre os mapas de fontes observadas, encontrados na literatura, e das fontes sinteticas. Na segunda frente, utilizamos simulacoes numericas para estudar a interacao do jato extragalactico com o meio ambiente. Simulamos situacoes onde o jato pode estar imerso em um meio onde existam nuvens de gas de alto contraste de densidade capazes de bloquear o avanco do jato, formando as estruturas distorcidas observadas na morfologia de fontes reais. Analisamos ainda a situacao em que o jato tem sua direcao de propagacao alterada devido a uma variacao angular no eixo principal da fonte dando origem ?as fontes iii Tipo X. Da comparacao de nossas simulacoes com as radio fontes duplas reais, fomos capazes de determinar os valores dos principais parametros f?sicos responsaveis pelas distorcoes observadas nesses objetos

La propagation des rayons Ɣ de très haute énergie (E > 100GeV) dans l'univers est affectée par les propriétés du milieu extragalactique. Ces photons à l'échelle du TeV, issus des processus d'accélération de particules dans les noyaux actifs de galaxies, peuvent en effet interagir avec des photons du fond optique et infrarouge qui baignent l'univers et produire des paires d'électrons et de positrons. Ce processus réduit la transparence de l'univers aux rayons Ɣ de très haute énergie mais permet en revanche de sonder les propriétés du milieu extragalactique de façon unique. Dans cette thèse, les données prises par le réseau de télescopes à imagerie Tcherenkov atmosphérique H.E.S.S. sont analysées et utilisées afin de caractériser la transparence de l'univers aux rayons Ɣ de très haute énergie. Une mesure indépendante de la distribution spectrale en énergie du fond cosmologique optique et infrarouge est réalisée à travers l'ajustement des modulations observées dans les spectres en énergie obtenus avec H.E.S.S. pour un échantillon de noyaux actifs de galaxies brillants dans une gamme en redshift 0.03 < z < 0.28. Les résultats obtenus sont compatibles avec les limites inférieures dérivées par comptages de galaxies et ne suggèrent pas d'anomalie de la transparence de l'univers aux rayons Ɣ vis à vis des modèles actuels du fond de lumière extragalactique. Des processus de second ordre affectant la propagation des rayons Ɣ de très haute énergie sont également explorés. Des limites sur une brisure de la symétrie de Lorentz à l'échelle de Planck sont obtenues à partir de l'analyse spectrale du noyau actif Mrk 501 observé dans un état de flux exceptionnel par H.E.S.S. en 2014, à grand angle zénithal. Enfin, des contraintes sur le champ magnétique extragalactique sont dérivées en considérant l'émission Ɣ secondaire attendue à partir de simulations des cascades électromagnétiques initiées lors du processus d'absorption pour le noyau actif distant PG 1553+113 vu par H.E.S.S. et le télescope spatial Fermi. Cette thèse a également été l'occasion d'une participation aux développements de certains aspects de la calibration et de l'analyse des données de H.E.S.S. / The propagation of very high energy Ɣ rays in the universe depends on the properties of the extragalactic medium. Such TeV-scale photons travelling cosmological distances are -emitted through particle acceleration mechanisms in active galaxy nuclei- can interact with the low-energy photons of the extragalactic background light (EBL) and produce electron-positron pairs. This effect reduces the transparency of the universe to very high energy Ɣ rays but it also provides a unique opportunity to probe the properties of the extragalactic medium. In this thesis, data taken with the H.E.S.S. array of Cherenkov telescopes are analyzed and used to characterize the transparency of the universe to very high energy Ɣ rays. A independent measurement of the spectral energy distribution of the EBL with H.E.S.S. is presented. It is obtained by extracting the EBL absorption signal from the fit of spectral modulations in the high-quality spectra of a sample of bright blazars in the redshift range 0.03 < z < 0.28. The intensity of the EBL obtained in different spectral bands is presented together with the associated Ɣ-ray horizon. The obtained results are consistent with lower limits derived from galaxy counts and do not suggest an anomaly of the transparency of the universe to Ɣ rays with respect to current models of the extragalactic background light. Second-order processes affecting the propagation of very high energy Ɣ rays in the universe are also considered. Limits on Lorentz invariance violation at Planck scale are obtained from the spectral analysis of the active galaxy nucleus Mrk 501 observed during a high-flux state by H.E.S.S. in 2014, at large zenith angle. Finally, constraints on the extragalactic magnetic field properties are derived by considering the secondary Ɣ-ray emission expected from the simulation of electromagnetic cascades initiated by the absorption process for the distant active galaxy nucleus PG 1553+113 seen by H.E.S.S. and the Fermi Ɣ-ray space telescope. In this thesis some developments related to the calibration and analysis of H.E.S.S. data are also presented.

Axionartige Teilchen sind pseudoscalare Teilchen welche in Theorien jenseits des Standardmodells vorhergesagt werden. Falls ein axionartiges Teilchen innerhalb eines kosmischen magnetischen Felds gebildet wird, wird dieses nicht durch das Hintergrundlicht absorbiert. Daher kann es kosmische Distanzen überbrücken bevor es wieder in ein Photon zurück oszilliert. Dieser Effekt erhöht die Reichweite der Gammastrahlung im Universum. Im Rahmen dieser Dissertation werden Daten des Fermi Large Area Telescopes, aufgenommen über eine Zeitraum von sechs Jahren, systematisch analysiert. Hierbei wird nach axionartigen Teilchen mit Hilfe von Transparenzeffekten des Universums gesucht. In diesem Zusammenhang werden verschiedene Modelle des extragalaktischen Hintergrundlichts mit und ohne Berücksichtigung axionartiger Teilchen verglichen. Hierfür werden Likelihood-Funktionen für das höchst energetische Photon verschiedener entfernter Quelle kombiniert. Diese sind aktive galaktische Kerne mit einer Rotverschiebung z ≥0.1 des Second Catalog of Hard Fermi-LAT Sources. Unter den Annahmen einer intergalaktischen magnetischen Feldstärke von B = 1 nG und einer Kohärenzlänge von s = 1 Mpc wurde keine Veränderungen der Transparenz durch axionähnliche Teilchen nachgewiesen. Für eine Masse eines axionartigen Teilchens mit m≅ 3.0 neV wird eine Photonen-Axion Kopplungskonstante über 10(^11) GeV(^−1) ausgeschlossen. / Axion-like particles, pseudo-scalar particles that arise in theories beyond the Standard Model, mix with photons in the presence of magnetic fields. If an axion-like particle is produced within a cosmic magnetic field, it evades extragalactic background light absorption and thus it can survive cosmological distances until oscillating back into a photon. This leads to an increased transparency of the Universe to gamma rays. In the scope of this thesis, we search for transparency effects compatible with the existence of axion-like particles with six years of data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope. We derive and combine the likelihoods of the highest-energy photon events from a sample of hard distant sources, in order to compare models that include axion-like particles and models with only extragalactic background light. The sources are active galactic nuclei from the Second Catalog of Hard Fermi sources at redshift z≥0.1. For values of the intergalactic magnetic field strength B = 1 nG and coherence length s = 1 Mpc, we find no evidence for a modified transparency induced by axion-like particles and therefore we set upper limits. We exclude photon-axion coupling constants above 10(^11) GeV(^−1) for axion masses m≅ 3.0 neV.

Der Ursprung der kosmischen Strahlung ist ein hundert Jahre altes Rätsel der Astrophysik. Mit modernen Großobservatorien wurde die kosmische Strahlung bei immer höheren Energien gemessen, aber auch andere Boten wie Gammateilchen und Neutrinos werden nun zur Erforschung des nichtthermischen Universums eingesetzt. Das IceCube Neutrino Observatory hat den extragalaktischen diffusen Neutrinofluss in verschiedenen Kanälen gemessen, aber bis heute ist weitgehend ungeklärt, woher dieser Fluss stammt. Diese Arbeit verwendet Selektionen von spur- und kaskadenartigen Ereignissen, die zuvor für solche Messungen verwendet wurden. Beide Selektionen werden erstmals durch eine kohärente Modellierung der Signal- und Hintergrundereignisse sowie der Detektorantwort kombiniert, wobei der Schwerpunkt auf der Verwendung einer neuartigen Simulationsmethode zur konsistenten Behandlung von Unsicherheiten in der Detektorantwort liegt. Erstmals werden Hinweise auf eine Struktur im Energiespektrum des extragalaktischen diffusen Neutrinoflusses gefunden, entsprechend einem Flussüberschuss um 30 TeV und einem Flussdefizit sowohl bei niedrigen als auch bei hohen Energien im Vergleich zum bisher verwendeten einfachen Potenzgesetz-Spektralmodell. Das Modell des einfachen Potenzgesetzes wird mit 4.4 Sigma verworfen, verglichen mit der Hypothese des gebrochenen Potenzgesetzes. Weitere spektrale Modelle werden untersucht und die Robustheit des Ergebnisses wird demonstriert. Diese präzise Messung des extragalaktischen Neutrinoflusses und der Nachweis eines Bruchs im Spektrum ermöglichen ein besseres Verständnis extragalaktischer Neutrinoemitter. Die in dieser Arbeit entwickelte Methodik legt auch den Grundstein für zukünftige Analysen, die hochenergetische Neutrinodatensätze kombinieren. / The origin of cosmic rays remains a century-old mystery in astrophysics. With the advent of modern large-scale observatories, those cosmic rays have been measured at ever higher energies, but also other messenger particles such as gamma rays and neutrinos are now used to study the non-thermal universe. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory has established the extragalactic diffuse neutrino flux through various detection channels, whose origin also remains largely unexplained to this date. The work presented in this thesis uses track- and cascade-like event selections used previously for such measurements. Both are combined, for the first time, using a coherent modeling of the signal and background events as well as the detector response. The coherent modeling is developed in this thesis, with a dedicated focus on using a novel simulation method to treat detector response uncertainties consistently. For the first time, evidence for structure in the energy spectrum of the extragalactic diffuse neutrino flux is found, exhibiting a flux excess around 30 TeV and flux deficits at lower as well as higher energies compared to the previously used single power law spectral model. The single power law model is rejected with 4.4 sigma when compared to a broken power law hypothesis. Various spectral models are studied and the robustness of this result is demonstrated. This precise measurement of the extragalactic neutrino flux and the evidence for a break in the spectrum enable a better understanding of extragalactic neutrino emitters. The methodology developed in this thesis also lays the groundwork for future analyses combining high-energy neutrino datasets.

Este trabalho consiste no estudo de cubos de dados das regiões centrais de quatro galáxias com mesmo tipo morfológico da Via Láctea: NGC 1566, NGC 6744, NGC 613 e NGC 134. As observações foram feitas no período de 2013 a 2015 com o Integral Field Unit do Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph do telescópio Gemini Sul. Foram utilizadas técnicas de análise de dados como Tomografia PCA, síntese espectral e Penalized Pixel Fitting. Além disso, para todos objetos, foram calculadas razões de linhas de emissão dos espectros das regiões centrais, imagens da emissão de [SII] 6716, 6731 das nuvens de alta e baixa densidades foram feitas e, em dois casos (NGC 1566 e NGC 613), analisaram-se imagens do Hubble Space Telescope para melhor entendimento do ambiente circumnuclear. Foram encontrados 6 espectros com emissão compatível com a de AGNs na amostra, sendo que, em duas galáxias, existe a possibilidade de AGNs duplos: NGC 6744 e NGC 613. No geral, todas as galáxias apresentaram populações estelares de idades variadas em suas regiões centrais, porém, predominantemente, com metalicidades altas (0.02 e 0.05). Todas as galáxias apresentaram cinemática estelar compatível com discos de rotação em torno do núcleo e, em duas galáxias (NGC 1566 e NGC 6744), foi observado um decréscimo da dispersão de velocidades estelar em direção ao núcleo, possivelmente devido à presença de estrelas jovens massivas. A emissão do featureless continuum do núcleo da galáxia de Seyfert NGC 1566 foi, pela primeira vez, isolada e estudada, sendo que foi encontrado um índice espectral igual 1.7. Uma amostra de quatro galáxias não é estatisticamente conclusiva e será necessário ampliar a amostra para um melhor entendimento global dos núcleos de galáxias de mesmo tipo morfológico da Via Láctea. / This work involved the analysis of data cubes of four nuclear regions of galaxies that have the same morphological type of the Milky Way: NGC 1566, NGC 6744, NGC 613 and NGC 134. The observations were taken in the period of 2013 to 2015 with the Integral Field Unit of Gemini Multi-object Spectrograph on the Gemini South telescope. The data were analyzed using techniques like PCA Tomography, spectral synthesis and the Penalized Pixel Fitting process. Besides that, for all the objects, emission-line ratios of the central regions were calculated, images of the emission-lines [SII]6716, 6731 of clouds of high and low densities were made and, in two cases (NGC 1566 and NGC 6744), their Hubble Space Telescope images were analyzed for better understanding of their circumnuclear regions. 6 spectra of the sample had emission compatible with that of AGNs, in two galaxies, there is a possibility of double AGN: NGC 613 and NGC 6744. In general, all the galaxies presented stellar populations with varying ages in their central regions, however mainly with high metallicities (0.02 and 0.05). All the galaxies presented stellar kinematics compatible with rotation disks around the central source and, in two galaxies (NGC 1566 and NGC 6744), there was a stellar dispersion velocity decrease toward the nuclei, possibly due to the presence of massive young stars. The featureless continuum emission of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 1566 was, for the rst time, isolated and studied. It was found that its spectral index is equal to 1.7. A sample of four galaxies is not conclusive and it is necessary to enlarge this sample to a better global understanding of the nuclei of galaxies with the same morphological type of the Milky Way.

Este trabalho consiste no estudo de cubos de dados das regiões centrais de quatro galáxias com mesmo tipo morfológico da Via Láctea: NGC 1566, NGC 6744, NGC 613 e NGC 134. As observações foram feitas no período de 2013 a 2015 com o Integral Field Unit do Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph do telescópio Gemini Sul. Foram utilizadas técnicas de análise de dados como Tomografia PCA, síntese espectral e Penalized Pixel Fitting. Além disso, para todos objetos, foram calculadas razões de linhas de emissão dos espectros das regiões centrais, imagens da emissão de [SII] 6716, 6731 das nuvens de alta e baixa densidades foram feitas e, em dois casos (NGC 1566 e NGC 613), analisaram-se imagens do Hubble Space Telescope para melhor entendimento do ambiente circumnuclear. Foram encontrados 6 espectros com emissão compatível com a de AGNs na amostra, sendo que, em duas galáxias, existe a possibilidade de AGNs duplos: NGC 6744 e NGC 613. No geral, todas as galáxias apresentaram populações estelares de idades variadas em suas regiões centrais, porém, predominantemente, com metalicidades altas (0.02 e 0.05). Todas as galáxias apresentaram cinemática estelar compatível com discos de rotação em torno do núcleo e, em duas galáxias (NGC 1566 e NGC 6744), foi observado um decréscimo da dispersão de velocidades estelar em direção ao núcleo, possivelmente devido à presença de estrelas jovens massivas. A emissão do featureless continuum do núcleo da galáxia de Seyfert NGC 1566 foi, pela primeira vez, isolada e estudada, sendo que foi encontrado um índice espectral igual 1.7. Uma amostra de quatro galáxias não é estatisticamente conclusiva e será necessário ampliar a amostra para um melhor entendimento global dos núcleos de galáxias de mesmo tipo morfológico da Via Láctea. / This work involved the analysis of data cubes of four nuclear regions of galaxies that have the same morphological type of the Milky Way: NGC 1566, NGC 6744, NGC 613 and NGC 134. The observations were taken in the period of 2013 to 2015 with the Integral Field Unit of Gemini Multi-object Spectrograph on the Gemini South telescope. The data were analyzed using techniques like PCA Tomography, spectral synthesis and the Penalized Pixel Fitting process. Besides that, for all the objects, emission-line ratios of the central regions were calculated, images of the emission-lines [SII]6716, 6731 of clouds of high and low densities were made and, in two cases (NGC 1566 and NGC 6744), their Hubble Space Telescope images were analyzed for better understanding of their circumnuclear regions. 6 spectra of the sample had emission compatible with that of AGNs, in two galaxies, there is a possibility of double AGN: NGC 613 and NGC 6744. In general, all the galaxies presented stellar populations with varying ages in their central regions, however mainly with high metallicities (0.02 and 0.05). All the galaxies presented stellar kinematics compatible with rotation disks around the central source and, in two galaxies (NGC 1566 and NGC 6744), there was a stellar dispersion velocity decrease toward the nuclei, possibly due to the presence of massive young stars. The featureless continuum emission of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 1566 was, for the rst time, isolated and studied. It was found that its spectral index is equal to 1.7. A sample of four galaxies is not conclusive and it is necessary to enlarge this sample to a better global understanding of the nuclei of galaxies with the same morphological type of the Milky Way.

High resolution spectra have been analyzed for two and three stars respectively in the candidate extragalactic globular clusters, NGC 5024 and NGC 5466, with the High-Resolution Spectrograph on the 9.2 m Hobby-Eberly Telescope. The goal of this investigation is to evaluate the proposed extragalactic origins of these two globular clusters. Evidence of a tidal tail in NGC 5466 (Belokurov et al., 2006) and the association of NGC 5024 with the Sagittarius stream (Martinez-Delgado et al., 2004) targeted the clusters as likely remnants of recent accretion events and thus potentially of extragalactic origin. Determination of their chemical abundance patterns could provide unique evidence to either support or dispute these claims. NGC 5024 has been associated with a proposed wrap in the Sagittarius stream which could be supported if the chemistry of NGC 5024 is similar to other clusters associated with the stream. NGC 5466 has the longest tidal tail known, which hints at an origin in a now dispersed dwarf spheroidal galaxy. Additional evidence for these clusters' capture origins has been compiled by Yoon & Lee (2002), demonstrating that these two low metallicity clusters, along with five others, are aligned in a single highly inclined plane in the outer halo. Confirmation that these clusters are remnants of dwarf galaxies would support a Galactic history which includes recent accretion events. Such evidence may bolster the cold dark matter hierarchical clustering scenario, which postulates the presence of a significant amount of substructure in the Milky Way. Unfortunately, at the metallicity of the target clusters ([Fe/H] = -1.9), the chemical distinction between Galactic stars and known dSph stars is not significant. The low [alpha/Fe] of dSph stars seen at higher metallicity is not apparent at [Fe/H] = -1.9 in either Galactic or dSph stars. Aside from a few mild discrepancies, NGC 5024 and NGC 5466 appear chemically similar to the Galactic field stars and globular clusters compiled by Pritzl et al. (2005). A moderate enhancement in the [Ba/Y] ratios relative to the halo field stars is the only positively detected chemical signature that is typically observed in dSph stars. Comparisons with Galactic GCs of similar age, metallicity and horizontal branch morphology (NGC 2298, NGC 6397 and NGC 5897) reveal a few other differences, but these could be attributed to systematic effects in the different analysis techniques. Although NGC 5024 has a similar metallicity to the GC Arp 2 that was stripped from the merging Sagittarius dwarf, neither Arp 2 (Mottini et al., 2008) nor the clusters in this study show any particularly unusual chemical abundance patterns. Thus, no conclusive evidence in support of or in opposition to the target clusters' proposed extragalactic origins has been discovered.

À la fin des années 90, deux équipes indépendantes ont montré l’expansion accélérée de notre Univers, à partir des mesures de distances de supernovas de type Ia (SNIa). Depuis, une des priorités de la cosmologie moderne est de caractériser ce phénomène et d’en comprendre ses fondements. L’amélioration des mesures de distance réalisées à partir des SNIa est une technique majeure permettant de mieux caractériser l’accélération et donc de déterminer la nature physique de ce phénomène. Ce document développe un nouveau modèle de distribution spectrale en énergie de SNIa nommé le Supernova Useful Generator And Reconstructor (SUGAR) permettant d’améliorer les mesures des distances. Ce modèle est construit à partir des propriétés spectrales des SNIa et des données spectrophotométriques de la collaboration The Nearby Supernova Factory. L’avancée principale, proposée dans SUGAR, réside dans l’ajout de deux paramètres supplémentaires pour caractériser la variabilité des SNIa. Le premier dépend des propriétés des vitesses des éjectas des SNIa, le deuxième dépend de leurs raies du calcium. L’ajout de ces paramètres, ainsi que la grande qualité des données de la collaboration the Nearby Supernova Factory font de SUGAR le meilleur modèle qui existe pour décrire la distribution spectrale en énergie des SNIa et améliore les mesures des distances de l’ordre de 15% par rapport à la méthode usuelle. Les performances de ce modèle en font un excellent candidat pour préparer les expériences futures comme LSST ou WFIRST. Par ailleurs, ce document présente une analyse sur l’effet de l’appartenance d’une SNIa à un amas de galaxies sur sa mesure de distance. Les galaxies d’un amas possèdent une vitesse propre largement supérieure à la valeur supposée lors de la mesure des distances avec les SNIa. Ceci a pour conséquence d’introduire une source d’erreur systématique sur la mesure de distance. Le fait de ne pas prendre en compte cet effet peut dégrader la mesure de distance de l’ordre de 2,5% pour les SNIa appartenant à un amas. Cette analyse à été réalisée en utilisant les données de la collaboration the Nearby Supernova Factory et des catalogues public d’amas de galaxies. / At the end of the 90s, two independent teams showed, based on distance measurements of type Ia supernovæ (SNIa), that expansion of our Universe is accelerating. Since then, one of the priorities of modern cosmology is to characterize this phenomenon and to understand its nature. The improvement of distance measurements of SNIa is one technique to improve the constraints on acceleration and to determine the physical nature of it. This document develops a new SNIa spectral energy distribution model, called the Supernova Useful Generator and Reconstructor (SUGAR), which improves distance measurement. This model is constructed from SNIa spectral properties and spectrophotometric data from The Nearby Supernova Factory collaboration. The main advancement proposed in SUGAR is the addition of two additional parameters to characterize the SNIa variability. The first depends on the properties of SNIa ejecta velocity, the second depends on their calcium lines. The addition of these parameters as well as the high quality of the data of The Nearby Supernova Factory collaboration make SUGAR the best model available to describe the spectral energy distribution of SNIa and improves distances measurements of the order of 15 % relative to the usual method. The performance of this model makes it an excellent candidate for preparing future experiments like LSST or WFIRST. In addition, this document presents an analysis of the effect of SNIa belonging to a galaxy cluster on its distance measurement. Galaxies of a cluster have a peculiar velocity much higher than the assumed value when measuring distances with SNIa. This has the effect of introducing a systematic error into the distance measurement. Failure to take into account this effect may degrade the distance measurement by 2.5% for SNIa belonging to a cluster. This analysis was carried out using data from the collaboration of the Nearby Supernova Factory and public catalogs of galaxy cluster.