Developed countries are striving to achieve a cm geoid model. Most developing countries/regions think that the situation in their areas does not allow even a few decimetre geoid model. GNSS, which provides us with position, is one of the greatest achievements of the present time. Conversion of ellipsoidal height to orthometric height, which is more useful, requires an accurate geoid model. In spite of the sparse terrestrial gravity data of variable density, distribution and quality (a typical situation in developing countries), this study set out to develop as accurately as possibly achievable, a high quality geoid model of Tanzania. Literature review of three more preferred geoid methods came to a conclusion, that the Royal Institute of Technology of Sweden (KTH) method of least squares modification of Stokes formula (LSMS) with additive corrections (AC) is the most suitable for this research. However, even with a good method, the accuracy and the quality of a geoid model depend much on the quality of the data. In this study, a procedure to create a gravity database (GDB) out of sparse data with varying density, distribution and quality has been developed. This GDB is of high density and full coverage, which ensures presence of high and low gravity frequencies, with medium frequencies ranging between fair and excellent. Also an alternative local/regional Global Gravitational Model (GGM) validation method based on quality terrestrial point surface gravity anomaly has been developed. Validation of a GGM using the new approach of terrestrial point gravity and GPS/Levelling, gave the same results. Once satisfactorily proved, the method has extra advantages. The limits of Tanzania GDB (TGDB) are latitudes 15 ° S to 4 ° N and longitudes 26 ° E to 44 ° E . Cleaning and quality control of the TGDB was based on the cross validation (XV) by the Kriging method and Gaussian distribution of the XV residuals. The data used in the LSMS with AC to develop a new Tanzania gravimetric geoid model 2008, TZG08, are 1′ ×1′ clean and statistically tested surface gravity anomalies. 39,677 point gravity in land and 57,723 in the ocean were utilised. Pure satellite ITGGRACE03S GGM to degree 120 was used to determine modification parameters and long-wavelength component of the geoid model. 3′′ Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) Digital Elevation Model (DEM), ITG-GRACE03S to degree 120 and EIGENCG03C to degree 360 combined GGM qualified to patch the data voids in accordance to the method of this research. TZG08 is referred to Geodetic Reference System 1980 (GRS80), and its extents are latitudes 12 ° S to 1 ° N and longitudes 29 ° E to 41 ° E . 19 GPS/levelling points qualified to assess the overall accuracy of TZG08 as 29.7 cm, and upon approximate removal of GPS and orthometric systematic effects, the accuracy of TZG08 is 27.8 cm. A corrector surface (CS) for conversion of GPS height to orthometric height referred to Tanzania National Height Datum (TNHD) has been created for a part of TZG08. Using the CS and TZG08, orthometric height of Mt. Kilimanjaro is re-established as it was in 1952 to be 5,895 m above the TNHD, which is still the official height of the mountain. / <p>QC 20100813</p>

Quadratic curvature terms are commonly introduced in the action as first-order corrections of General Relativity, and, in this thesis, we investigated their impact on the most simple isolated objects, that are the static and spherically symmetric ones. Most of the work has been done in the context of Stelle's theory of gravity, in which the most general quadratic contractions of curvature tensors are added to the action of General Relativity without a cosmological constant. We studied this theory's possible static, spherically symmetric and asymptotically flat solutions with both analytical approximations and numerical methods. We found black holes with Schwarzschild and non-Schwarzschild nature, naked singularities which can have either an attractive or repulsive gravitational potential in the origin, non-symmetric wormholes which connects an asymptotically flat spacetime with an asymptotically singular one, and non-vacuum solutions modeled by perfect fluids with different equations of state. We described the general geometrical properties of these solutions and linked these short-scale behaviors to the values of the parameters which characterize the gravitational field at large distances. We studied linear perturbations of these solutions, finding that most are unstable, and presented a first attempt to picture the parameter space of stable solutions. We also studied the Thermodynamics of black holes and described their evaporation process: we found that either evaporation leads black holes to unstable configurations, or the predictions of quadratic gravity are unphysical. We also considered the possibility of generalizing Stelle's theory by removing the dependence from the only mass-scale present by including a new dynamical scalar field, making the theory scale invariant. Having a more complex theory, we did not investigate exotic solutions but limited ourselves to the impact of the new additional degrees of freedom on known analytical solutions. It was already known that in a cosmological setting this theory admits a transition between two de Sitter configurations; we analyzed the same problem in the context of static and spherically symmetric solutions and found a transition between two Schwarzschild-de Sitter configurations. In order to do that, we studied both linear perturbations and the semiclassical approximation of the path integral formulation of Euclidean quantum gravity. At last, we tried to extract some phenomenological signatures of the exotic solutions. In particular, we investigated the shadow of an object on background free-falling light, and a possible way of determining the behavior close to the origin using mass measurements that rely on different physical processes. We show that, whenever these measurements are applied to the case of compact stars, in principle it could be possible to distinguish solutions where different equations of state describe the fluid.

No description available.

<p>The properties of neutron stars and black holes are investigated within a class of alternative theories of gravity known as Scalar-Tensor theories, which extend General Relativity by introducing additional light scalar fields to mediate the gravitational interaction.</p> <p>It has been known since 1993 that neutron stars in certain Scalar-Tensor theories may undergo ‘scalarization’ phase transitions. The Weak Central Coupling (WCC) expansion is introduced for the purpose of describing scalarization in a perturbative manner, and the leading-order WCC coefficients are calculated analytically for constant-density stars. Such stars are found to scalarize, and the critical value of the quadratic scalar-matter coupling parameter β_s = −4.329 for the phase transition is found to be similar to that of more realistic neutron star models.</p> <p>The influence of cosmological and galactic effects on the structure of an otherwise isolated black hole in Scalar-Tensor gravity may be described by incorporating the Miracle Hair Growth Formula discovered by Jacobson in 1999, a perturbative black hole solution with scalar hair induced by time-dependent boundary conditions at spatial infinity. It is found that a double-black-hole binary (DBHB) subject to these boundary conditions is inadequately described by the Eardley Lagrangian and emits scalar dipole radiation.</p> <p>Combining this result with the absence of observable dipole radiation from quasar OJ287 (whose quasi-periodic ‘outbursts’ are consistent with the predictions of a general-relativistic DBHB model at the 6% level) yields the bound |φ/Mpl| < (16 days)^-1 on the cosmological time variation of canonically-normalized light (m < 10⁻²³ eV) scalar fields at redshift z ∼ 0.3.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Understanding the apparent accelerating expansion rate of the universe is a challenge for modern cosmology. One category of explanations is that we are using the wrong gravitational physics to study the observations. Our paradigmatic theory of gravity – Einstein’s theory of General Relativity – may be subsumed by a larger theory. This thesis develops a selection of tools for testing General Relativity and the numerous alternative theories of gravity that have been put forward. I advocate that an elegant and efficient way to test this space of theories is through the use of parameterized frameworks. Inspired by the Parameterized Post-Newtonian framework I develop a new formalism, the Parameterized Post-Friedmann formalism, that aims to unify the linear cosmological perturbation theory of many alternatives to General Relativity. Having introduced the Parameterized Post-Friedmann formalism and demonstrated its application via a suite of examples, I examine several issues surrounding parameterized tests of gravity. I first consider how the structure of a parameterization can influence the constraints obtainable from a given set of data. I then consider how to describe the growth of the large-scale structure of the universe in a parameterized manner. This leads to a convenient tool for calculating corrections to the growth rate of structure in modified theories, which can be used both with the Parameterized Post-Friedmann formalism or independently of it. I present forecasts for how well generalized deviations from General Relativity will be constrained by the next generation of galaxy surveys. Throughout, this thesis aims to take a synoptic approach to theories of modified gravity, rather than focussing on specific models. A question yet to be answered is whether this approach is realistic in practical terms. The final part of this thesis takes the first steps towards an answer.

Newly released Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph/Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (IUVS/MAVEN) measurements of CO2 density in the Martian thermosphere have been used for comparison with the predictions of the Max Planck Institute Martian General Circulation Model (MPI-MGCM). The simulations reproduced (within one standard deviation) the available zonal mean density and derived temperature above 130 km. The MGCM replicated the observed dominant zonal wave number 3 nonmigrating tide and demonstrated that it represents a nonmoving imprint of the topography in the thermosphere. The comparison shows a great dependence of the simulated density and temperature to the prescribed solar flux, atomic oxygen abundances and gravity wave effects, with the former two being especially important in the thermosphere above 130 km and the latter playing a significant role both in the mesosphere and thermosphere.

June 1 1997. After 155 years under British rule, Hong Kong was reunited with its ancient roots, China. The administrative power shifted. What happened then? In this paper we analyze how Hong Kong’s trade flows changed after the liberation. We conduct our analysis with main focus on the trade predicting factors of Gravity, Institutional quality and Hong Kong’s relationship to China. We have found that trade flows did not significantly change much, however, Hong Kong’s attitude towards its trade partners’ institutional quality seem to have. Further, Hong Kong seem to have embraced the reunification with China and is now more dependent of its new ruler, in terms of trade, than before.

In a preamble, a quick summary of the line of thought from Noether's theorems to modern views on conserved charges in gauge theories is attempted. Most of the background material needed for the thesis is set out through a small survey of the literature. Emphasis is put on the concepts more than on the formalism, which is relegated to the appendices. The treatment of exact conservation laws in Lagrangian gauge theories constitutes the main axis of the first part of the thesis. The formalism is developed as a self-consistent theory but is inspired by earlier works, mainly by cohomological results, covariant phase space methods and by the Hamiltonian formalism. The thermodynamical properties of black holes, especially the first law, are studied in a general geometrical setting and are worked out for several black objects: black holes, strings and rings. Also, the geometrical and thermodynamical properties of a new family of black holes with closed timelike curves in three dimensions are described. The second part of the thesis is the natural generalization of the first part to asymptotic analyses. We start with a general construction of covariant phase spaces admitting asymptotically conserved charges. The representation of the asymptotic symmetry algebra by a covariant Poisson bracket among the conserved charges is then defined and is shown to admit generically central extensions. The asymptotic structures of three three-dimensional spacetimes are then studied in detail and the consequences for quantum gravity in three dimensions are discussed.

No description available.

The South African coal industry produces a large quantity of coal per annum. The rejects from various unit operations, such as spirals, consist of fine coal that joins the plants tailings dam waste. As existing high quality resources become depleted, the need to improve recovery of this fine coal grows. This project investigates the use of a teetered bed separator (TBS); a hindered settling gravity concentration device for fine coal recovery. This device has proven successful in the United Kingdom and in Australian collieries for fine coal separation in the size range between 2mm and 0.3mm. It has also been used for decades as a classifying device for silica sand and tin. The TBS operates in the size range of water-only cyclones and spiral concentrators, and could potentially be used to separate a broader size range of coal fines so as to offer a lower footprint device for the fines recovery section of a plant. Spiral concentrators cannot always be operated efficiently at a separating specific gravity of lower than 1.6; a TBS may also extend the density range for separation and thus improve recovery. The objective of this project was to gain a full understanding of the TBS from fundamental particle interaction and develop a lab scale unit, which is capable of separation to about 0.1mm at optimum conditions. This involved the development of design parameters based on the various distributor plates and flow pattern modelling. The hydrodynamics of the separator were investigated using the Eulerian-Eulerian modelling approach of commercial CFD package, Fluent 6.1. Seven distributor plates of varying aperture size and geometric arrangement were considered. Coal and shale particles, sized between 2mm and 0.038mm with a specific gravity (SG) range of 1.2 to 2.0, were separated using the laboratory scale unit. The results of both the simulations and the laboratory tests were then compared. The simulations revealed that Plate 3 was the best option for implementation. It had an even upward velocity profile compared to the other plates, with minimum wall effects and disturbances. The upward water flow rate (teeter water) was varied experimentally and the composition of the teeter bed, underflow and overflow were analysed using 1.5, 2 and Smm cubic density tracers with an SG range of 1.2-2.0. Analysis of the partition curves of the distributor plates revealed that Plate 3 had the lowest Ecart Probable (Ep) and cut- point densities. The comparison of simulated results and experimental results show that the simulator could predict the distributor plate design with the lowest Ep in practical tests. The simulator could be beneficial when optimising an industrial scale unit, by allowing prediction of improved segregation patterns and thus separation efficiency. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.