Lateral perturbations in anelasticity (Q) and wave speed together provide important constraints on thermal and chemical structures in the mantle. In present-day tomography studies of global wave speed and anelasticity, the significance of 3-D wave speed and 3-D Q structures on surface wave travel times and amplitudes has not been well understood. In this dissertation, the effects of lateral perturbations in anelasticity (Q) and wave speed on surface wave observables are quantified based upon wave propagation simulations in 3-D earth models using a Spectral Element Method. Comparison between phase delays caused by 3-D wave speed structures and those caused by 3-D Q variations show that anelastic dispersion due to lateral perturbation in Q is important in long-period surface wave and can account for 15-20% observed phase delays. For amplitude perturbations, elastic focusing/defocusing effects associated with 3-D wave speed structures are dominant while energy dissipation is important in short-period (~ 50 s) surface waves but decreases quickly with increasing wave period. Anelastic focusing/defocusing associated with 3-D anelastic dispersion becomes more important than wave attenuation in longer period surface waves. In tomography studies, ray theory breaks down and finite frequency effects become important when the length scale of heterogenities are smaller than seismic wavelength. Finite frequency effects in 3-D earth models are investigated by comparing theoretical predictions of travel times and amplitudes with "ground truth" measurements made on synthetic seismograms generated in SEM simulations. The comparisons show that finite frequency effects are stronger in amplitudes than in phases, especially at long periods. / Ph. D.

Les évolutions rapides du marché des composants électroniques font apparaître de nombreux challenges pour la conception et la fabrication de ces derniers. Lorsque ces éléments deviennent plus petits, leur comportement se complexifie à mesure que de nouveaux phénomènes, liés aux effets d'interférence, entrent en jeu. Comprendre ces derniers nécessite le développement d'outils théoriques avancés. Dans ce contexte cette thèse est consacrée au transport électronique quantique dans des systèmes multi-terminaux. Dans la première partie on développe un formalisme général, utilisant les fonctions de Green de Keldysh, pour le transport électronique quantique dans des systèmes multi-terminaux en présence de perturbations oscillantes. Nous sommes capable d'exprimer toute obervable AC en termes de fonctions de Green à l'équilibre et des self-énergies des contacts. Ceci fait de notre formalisme un outil pratique pour toute une variété de perturbations à fréquence finie. Dans la seconde partie on présente l'idée d'induction d'un fort couplage spin-orbite dans le graphène en déposant à sa surface un certain type d'atomes lourds. Le graphène devient alors un isolant topologique. Nous avons ensuite étudié l'évolution de la phase topologique avec un champ magnétique externe. Une transition entre la phase de Hall quantique et la phase de Hall quantique de spin a été identifiée dans le même système en variant seulement la position du niveau de Fermi. Nous avons montré qu'une hétérojonction entre ces deux phases donnait lieu à un nouveau type d'état chiral à l'interface. / Rapidly changing market of electronic devices sets up a lot of challenges for the manufacturing and design technologies. When electronic circuit elements get smaller, the device behavior becomes increasingly complicated as new physical phenomena due to quantum interference effects come into play. Understanding of the latter necessitates development of advanced theoretical tools. In this thesis we investigate quantum electron transport in multiterminal devices. In the first part making use of the Keldysh Green's functions we develop a general framework for electron quantum transport in multi-terminal systems in the presence of oscillating fields. We are able to express any AC observable in terms of stationary Green's functions and leads self-energies, which makes our formalism a practical numerical tool for a variety of possible finite-frequency perturbations. In the second part we investigate theoretically a proposal to induce strong spin-orbital coupling in graphene by functionalizing its surface with certain type of heavy adatoms. In this case graphene becomes a topological insulator. Then we investigate the evolution of this topological phase in external magnetic field. We were able to see a unique transition between quantum Hall and quantum spin Hall phases in the same system by only varying the position of the Fermi level. A heterojunction between these two phases was shown to give rise to a new type of a chiral state at the interface between the latter.