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Giant molecular clouds (GMCs), out of which stars form, are complex, dynamic systems, which both influence and are shaped by the process of star formation. In this dissertation, I examine three different facets of the dynamical motions within GMCs. Collapse modes in different dimensional objects. Molecular clouds contain lower dimensional substructures, such as filaments and sheets. The collapse properties of finite filaments and sheets differ from those of spherical objects as well as infinite sheets and filaments. I examine the importance of local collapse modes of small central perturbations, relative to global collapse modes, in different dimensional objects to elucidate whether strong perturbations are required for molecular clouds to fragment to form stars. I also calculate the dependence of the global collapse timescale upon the aspect ratio of sheets and filaments. I find that lower dimensional objects are more readily fragmented, and that for a constant density, lower dimensional objects and clouds with larger aspect ratios collapse more slowly. An edge-driven collapse mode also exists in sheets and filaments and is most important in elongated filaments. The failure to consider the geometry of a gas cloud is shown to lead to an overestimation of the star formation rate by up to an order of magnitude. Molecular tracers of turbulent energy dissipation. Molecular clouds contain supersonic turbulence that simulations predict will decay rapidly via shocks. I use shock models to predict which species emit the majority of the turbulent energy dissipated in shocks and find that carbon monoxide, CO, is primarily responsible for radiating away this energy. By combining these shock models with estimates for the turbulent energy dissipation rate of molecular clouds, I predict the expected shock spectra of CO from molecular clouds. I compare the results of these shock models to predictions for the emission from the unshocked gas in GMCs and show that mid-to-high rotational transitions of CO (e.g., J = 8 to 7), should be dominated by shocked gas emission and should trace the turbulent energy being dissipated in molecular clouds. Orion-Eridanus superbubble. The nearby Orion star forming region has created a large bubble of hot plasma in the local interstellar medium referred to as the Orion-Eridanus superbubble. This bubble is unusual in that it is highly elongated, is believed to be oriented roughly parallel to the galactic plane, and contains bright filamentary features on the Eridanus side. I fit models for a wind driven bubble in an exponential atmosphere to the Orion-Eridanus superbubble and show that the elongation of the bubble cannot be explained by such a model in which the scale height of the galactic disk is the typical value of 150 pc. Either a much smaller scale height must be adopted or some additional physics must be added to the model. I also show that the Eridanus filaments cannot be equilibrium objects ionized by the Orion star forming region. / Graduate / 0606 / andyrpon@gmail.com

Les torches à arcs plasma sont actuellement utilisées dans de nombreuses applications industrielles. Une technologie plasma triphasée à électrodes en graphite est en cours de développement au Centre PERSEE MINES ParisTech. Cette technologie diffère sensiblement des technologies à courant continu traditionnelles et vise à dépasser certaines limites des systèmes actuels en termes de robustesse, de coûts d'équipement et d'exploitation pour des applications liées à conversion et la valorisation de biomasse et déchets. Dans le but d'améliorer la compréhension des phénomènes physiques instationnaires intervenant dans les décharges triphasées, une étude menée en parallèle sur les plans théorique et expérimental a été conduite en conditions non réactives (azote et gaz de synthèse). Sur un plan expérimental cette étude s'est appuyée sur des analyses réalisées avec une caméra ultra rapide (100 000 images par seconde) et l'analyse des signaux électriques. Sur un plan théorique cette étude a consisté à développer un modèle Magnéto-Hydro-Dynamique (MHD) 3D instationnaire de la zone d'arc dans l'environnement du logiciel Code Saturne® et à effectuer une étude paramétrique basée sur le courant, la fréquence et le débit de gaz plasma. Deux configurations : électrodes coplanaires et parallèles ont été étudiées. Cette étude a permis de mettre en avant l'influence des phénomènes électromagnétiques et hydrodynamiques sur le déplacement de l'arc. Dans le cas coplanaire les jets aux électrodes semblent jouer un rôle prépondérant sur le mouvement des arcs, les transferts de chaleur dans l'espace inter électrode et l'amorçage des arcs. Dans le cas parallèle le mouvement des canaux chauds semble être le paramètre dominant. La confrontation des résultats théoriques et expérimentaux a montré un très bon accord à la fois au niveau du mouvement des arcs et des signaux électriques. / Arc plasma torches are widely used in industrial applications. A 3-phase AC plasma technology with consumable graphite electrodes is under development at PERSEE MINES - ParisTech. This technology noticeably differs from the classical DC plasma torches and aims at overcoming a number of limits of plasma systems in terms of reliability, equipment and operating costs. In order to improve the understanding of the unsteady physical phenomena in such plasma systems, a theoretical and experimental study is conducted under non reactive condition (nitrogen, syngas). Experimental study is based on high speed video camera (100 000 frames per second) and electrical signal analyses. Theoretical analysis is based on 3D unsteady Magneto-Hydro-Dynamic (MHD) model of the arc zone using CFD software Code_Saturne®, by a parametric study based on current, frequency and plasma gas flow rate influence. Two configurations: coplanar and parallel electrodes are studied. These studies highlight the influence of electromagnetic and hydrodynamic phenomena on the arc motion. In coplanar electrode configuration, electrode jets appear to be the dominant parameter on the arc motion, heat transfer and arc ignition. In the parallel electrodes configuration, the motion of the hot channel seems to be the key parameter. Comparison between MHD modeling and experimental results shows a fair correlation, both in accordance with the arc behavior and the electrical waveform.

Rotating convection in the Earth's core produces columnar vortices of radius ~10 km or less near the inner core boundary. Small-scale motions in the core can travel as Alfvén waves in the face of Ohmic diffusion, provided the ratio of the magnetic diffusion time th to the Alfvén wave travel time tA (measured by the Lundquist number S0) is much greater than unity. These motions transfer angular momentum from the core to the mantle, a process that can help explain variations in length of day. Vortices subject to the combined influence of a magnetic field and background rotation give rise to fast and slow Magneto-Coriolis (MC) waves whose damping is not well understood. This thesis investigates the long-time evolution of magneto hydrodynamic (MHD) waves generated by an isolated, small-scale motion in an otherwise quiescent, electrically conducting fluid. The first part of the study focuses on the damping of small-scale Alfvén waves, which is independent of rotation. For a plausible magnetic field strength in the Earth's core, it is shown that flows of lengthscale ~ 5 km or larger can propagate across the core as damped Alfvén waves on sub-decadal timescales. The second part of the study looks at MC waves generated from an isolated blob under rotation and a uniform axial magnetic field. The decay laws for these waves are obtained by considering the decay of fast and slow waves individually. While the fast waves are subject to strongly anisotropic magnetic diffusion, the slow waves diffuse isotopically. New timescales are derived for the onset of damping and the transition from the wave-dominated to the diffusion-dominated (quasi-static) phase of decay. This study shows for the first time that MC waves originating from small-scale vortices of magnetic Reynolds number Rm ~ 1 can be long-lived. The results of this study are extendible to small-scale MHD turbulence under rotation, whose damped wave phase has not been adequately addressed in the literature. Furthermore, it is thought that this study would help place a lower bound on the poloidal magnetic field strength in the Earth’s core.

Thermonuclear fusion has potential to offer an economically, environmentally and socially acceptable supply of energy. A promising reactor design to execute thermonuclear fusion is the toroidal magnetic confinement device, tokamak. The tokamak still faces challenges in the major areas which can be categorised into confinement, heating and fusion technology. This thesis addresses the problem of confinement, in particular the role of transport along magnetic field lines perturbed by diverse MHD instabilities.<p><p>Unstable modes such as ideal ballooning-peeling, tearing etc. break closed magnetic surfaces and destroy the axisymmetry of the magnetic configuration in a tokamak, providing deviation of magnetic field lines from unperturbed magnetic surfaces. Radial gradients of plasma parameters have nonzero projections along such lines and drive parallel particle and heat flows which contribute to the radial transport. Such transport can significantly affect confinement as this takes place by the development of neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs) in the core and edge localised modes (ELMs) at the plasma periphery.<p><p>In this thesis, transport of heat through non-overlapped magnetic island chains is first investigated using the 'Optimal path' approach, which is based on the principal of minimum entropy production. This model shows how the effective heat conduction through islands increases with parallel heat conduction and with the perturbation level. A more standard analytical approach for the limit cases of "small" and "large" islands is also presented. Transport of heat through internally heated magnetic islands is next investigated by further development of the 'Optimal path' method. In addition the approach by R. Fitzpatrick, has been extended for this investigation. By application of these approaches to experimental observations made at TEXTOR tokamak, heat flux limit, limiting parallel heat conduction in low collisional plasmas, is elucidated.<p><p>Models to study transport of heat and particles due to ELMs have also been developed. Energy losses during ELMs have been estimated considering contribution from parallel conduction due to electrons and parallel convection of ions, with constant level of the magnetic field perturbation, steady profiles for density and temperature, and by accounting for the heat flux limit. The estimate shows good agreement with experimental observations. The model is developed further by accounting for the time evolution of the perturbation level due to ballooning mode, and of density and temperature profiles. / Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

One of the most persistent problem in solar physics is the identification of the mechanism that heats the solar corona and accelerates the fast solar wind. Magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD)waves play a crucial role in heating of the solar corona and acceleration of the solar wind. Different types of oscillations have been now observed by various instruments. These are interpreted as due to ubiquitous presence of MHD waves. The magnetic field plays a fundamental role in the propagation and properties of these MHD waves. The topology (structure)of the magnetic fields are different in different regions of the solar atmosphere viz., active regions (high-lying closed magnetic fields), quiet Sun (low-lying closed magnetic fields) and coronal holes (open magnetic fields). The purpose of this dissertation is to study the nature of these propagating MHD waves in different regions of the solar atmosphere. It is believed that polar coronal holes which connects the inner corona and the solar wind, are the source regions of the fast solar wind. The on-disk part of a polar coronal hole can be divided into network and internetwork regions. Long time series(sit-and-stare)data have been obtained from the SUMER/SoHO spectrometer in N iv 765Å and Ne viii 770Å spectral lines to search for the presence of waves in these two different regions from a statistical approach. The network bright regions indicate the presence of compressional waves with a dominant period of ≈ 25 min in both the lines. Moreover, we found that there is a difference in the nature of the wave propagation in the bright (‘network’), as opposed to the dark (‘internetwork’) regions, with the latter sometimes showing evidence of downwardly propagating waves that are not seen in the former. This is consistent with the magnetic topology, as open field lines are rooted in network regions whereas internetwork region has low lying closed field lines. From a measurement of propagation speeds, we found all waves are subsonic, indicating that the majority of them are slow magneto-acoustic in nature. The off-limb part of coronal holes can be divided into plume and inter-plume regions. The simultaneous observations were performed with EIS/Hinode and SUMER/SoHO spectrometer in Fe xii 195Å and Ne viii 770Å spectral lines respectively. We detected the presence of accelerating waves in a polar inter-plume region with a period of 15 min to 20 min in both the spectral lines and a propagation speed increasing from 130 ± 14 km s−1 just above the limb, to 330 ± 140 kms s−1 around 160” above the limb. These waves can be traced to originate from a bright region of the on-disk part of the coronal hole which can be visualized as the base of the coronal funnels. The adjacent plume region also shows the presence of propagating disturbance with the same range of periodicity but with propagation speeds in the range of 135 ± 18 kms s−1 to 165 ± 43 kms s−1 only. We found that the waves within the plumes are not observable (may be getting dissipated) far off-limb whereas this is not the case in the inter-plume region. We suggested that the waves are likely either Alfv´enic or fast magneto-acoustic in the inter-plume regions and slow magneto-acoustic in the plume regions. These results support the view that the inter-plume regions area preferred channel for the acceleration of the fast solar wind. The quiet Sun can be further divided into bright magnetic (network), bright non-magnetic and dark non-magnetic (internetwork) regions. Simultaneous observations were performed in Ca ii filtergram from SOT/Hinode, TRACE 1550Åpassband and with SUMER/SoHO spectrometer in N iv 765ÅandNe viii 770Åspectral lines to study the oscillations in these different regions. We detected the presence of long period oscillations with periods between 15 min to 30 min in bright magnetic regions. The oscillations were detected from chromospheric height to low coronal heights. Power maps showed that low period powers are mainly concentrated in dark regions whereas long period powers are concentrated in bright magnetic regions. We proposed that these 15 min and above periods can propagate up to the coronal heights through ‘magneto¬acoustic portals’. However in this case only with the spectral imaging data, it was not possible to identify the mode of wave propagation. To detect the presence of waves in active regions, we have analysed the imaging and spec¬troscopic data acquired during the total solar eclipse of 2006 and 2009 respectively. We found the oscillations of periods 27 s and 20 s in imaging data obtained in green (Fe xiv 5303Å) and red (Fe x 6374Å) coronal emission lines respectively. Significant oscillations with high proba¬bility estimates were detected at boundary of active region and in the neighbourhood, rather than within the loops itself. We also reported the detection of oscillations in intensity, velocity and line width having periods in the range of 25 s to 50 s with spectroscopic data again obtained in green and red coronal emission lines. These high frequency oscillations were interpreted in terms of presence of fast magneto-acoustic waves or torsional Alfv´en waves. These detected propagating MHD waves may carry sufficient energy to heat the corona and provide enough momenta to accelerate the fast solar wind. In addition, these waves may also provide input for the measurement of coronal magnetic field using the technique of ‘coronal seismology’.

MSc (Mathematics) / Department of Mathematcs and Applied Mathematics / Magnetohydrodynamics ows have gained signi cant attention due to their importance in engineering applications. In this study, we numerically analysed the Dufour and Soret e ects on an unsteady MHD mixed convection ow past an in nite vertical plate with viscous dissipation. The governing non-linear partial di erential equations (PDEs) are transformed into a system of ordinary di erential equations (ODEs) by the suitable similarity transformations. The resulting equations consist of the momentum, energy and mass di usion equations. These resulting equations are solved using the Spectral Local Linearization Method (SLLM). Results obtained by the SLLM are in good agreement with the bvp4c technique. The e ects of di erent physical parameters entering into the problem are displayed graphically. The values of the Skin-friction (f0(0)), Nusselt number (􀀀 0(0)) and Sherwood number (􀀀 0(0)) are shown in tabular form for di erent values of the parameters. From the results, it is noted that the Soret number (Sr) and the Dufour number (Du) have negligible e ects on temperature pro le, whereas the decrease in the Soret number (Sr) leads to a decrease in both velocity and concentration of the uid, and the increase in Dufour number (Du) reduces the velocity and also has negligilbe e ect on the concentration pro le. / NRF

Diese Arbeit stellt einen Beitrag zur Modellierung der gerichteten Erstarrung von Silizium für die Photovoltaik dar. Es wurde basierend auf einem industriellen Prozesses ein Modellaufbau der Schmelze mit zwei Induktoren nach der Ähnlichkeitstheorie abgeleitet. Dieser ermöglicht, durch die Verwendung von niedrig schmelzenden Metallen, eine umfassende Messung der Strömungsgeschwindigkeiten mit Ultraschall-Velocimetrie. Basierend auf den experimen- tellen Daten wurde ein numerisches Modell zur Berechnung der Schmelzströmung unter Magnetfeldeinfluss validiert. Es wurden detaillierte Untersuchungen zu Strömungsstrukturen und beeinflussende Parameter durchgeführt, eine Methode zur Klassifizierung entwickelt und die Rotationskennzahl Ro eingeführt, mit welcher man in Abhängigkeit vom Magnetfeld und der Schmelzgeometrie die horizontale Rotation der Schmelzströmung in einem breiten Gültigkeitsbereich vorhersagen kann. Das validierte numerische Modell wurde zur Prozessoptimierung auf die Schmelzströmung des industriellen Prozesses angewendet.

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The solar wind, magnetosphere and ionosphere are coupled by magnetohydrodynamic waves, and this gives rise to new and often unexpected behaviours that cannot be produced by a single, isolated part of the system. This thesis examines two broad instances of coupling: field-line resonance (FLR) which couples fast and Alfvén waves, and magnetosphere-ionosphere (MI-) coupling via Alfvén waves. The first part of this thesis investigates field-line resonance for equilibria that vary in two dimensions perpendicular to the background magnetic field. This research confirms that our intuitive understanding of FLR from 1D is a good guide to events in 2D, and places 2D FLR onto a firm mathematical basis by systematic solution of the governing equations. It also reveals the new concept of ‘imprinting’ of spatial forms: spatial variations of the resonant Alfvén wave correlate strongly with the spatial form of the fast wave that drives the resonance. MI-coupling gives rise to ionosphere-magnetosphere (IM-) waves, and we have made a detailed analysis of these waves for a 1D sheet E-region. IM-waves are characterised by two quantities: a speed v_{IM} and an angular frequency ω_{IM} , for which we have obtained analytic expressions. For an ideal magnetosphere, IM-waves are advective and move in the direction of the electric field with speed v_{IM}. The advection speed is a non-linear expression that decreases with height-integrated E-region plasma-density, hence, wavepackets steepen on their trailing edge, rapidly accessing small length-scales through wavebreaking. Inclusion of electron inertial effects in the magnetosphere introduces dispersion to IM-waves. In the strongly inertial limit (wavelength λ << λ_{e} , where λ_{e} is the electron inertial length at the base of the magnetosphere), the group velocity of linear waves goes to zero, and the waves oscillate at ω_{IM} which is an upper limit on the angular frequency of IM-waves for any wavelength. Estimates of v_{IM} show that this speed can be a significant fraction (perhaps half) of the E_{⊥} × B_{0} drift in the E-region, producing speeds of up to several hundred metres per second. The upper limit on angular frequency, ωIM , is estimated to give periods from a few hundredths of a second to several minutes. IM-waves are damped by recombination and background ionisation, giving an e-folding decay time that can vary from tens of seconds to tens of minutes. We have also investigated the dynamics and steady-states that occur when the magnetosphere-ionosphere system is driven by large-scale Alfvénic field-aligned currents. Steady-states are dominated by two approximate solutions: an ‘upper’ solution that is valid in places where the E-region is a near perfect conductor, and a ‘lower’ solution that is valid where E-region depletion makes recombination negligible. These analytic solutions are extremely useful tools and the global steady-state can be constructed by matching these solutions across suitable boundary-layers. Furthermore, the upper solution reveals that E-region density cavities form and widen (with associated broadening of the magnetospheric downward current channel) if the downward current density exceeds the maximum current density that can be supplied by background E-region ionisation. We also supply expressions for the minimum E-region plasma-density and shortest length-scale in the steady-state. IM-waves and steady-states are extremely powerful tools for interpreting MI-dynamics. When an E-region density cavity widens through coupling to an ideal, single-fluid MHD magnetosphere, it does so by forming a discontinuity that steps between the upper and lower steady-states. This discontinuity acts as part of an ideal IM-wave and moves in the direction of the electric field at a speed U = \sqrt{v_{IM} {+} v_{IM} {-}}, which is the geometric mean of v_{IM} evaluated immediately to the left and right of the discontinuity. This widening speed is typically several hundreds of metres per second. If electron inertial effects are included in the magnetosphere, then the discontinuity is smoothed, and a series of undershoots and overshoots develops behind it. These undershoots and overshoots evolve as inertial IM-waves. Initially they are weakly inertial, with a wavelength of about λ_{e}, however, strong gradients of ω_{IM} cause IM-waves to phase-mix, making their wavelength inversely proportional to time. Therefore, the waves rapidly become strongly inertial and oscillate at ω_{IM}. The inertial IM-waves drive upgoing Alfvén waves in the magnetosphere, which populate a region over the downward current channel, close to its edge. In this manner, the E-region depletion mechanism, that we have detailed, creates small-scale Alfvén waves in large-scale current systems, with properties determined by MI-coupling.