Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-90). / This thesis investigates the origin and evolution of large scale structure in the universe. We approach these questions from two different angles in two related but independent projects. The outcomes of these two investigations jointly contribute to our understanding of the large scale structure of the universe because the structures we see filling our universe today have their origins in the spectrum of density perturbations emerging from the inflationary era. The first project consists of two calculations of the density perturbation spectrum generated by a particular model of inflation called supernatural inflation. We compute the resulting power spectrum from a D numerical simulation and compare it with the predictions of an untested analytic approximation (Randall et al. 1996). We find that the results from these two calculations agree qualitatively. In the second project, using observations of the Lyman-α forest in the spectra of quasars, we characterize the redshift dependence of the flux probability distribution function of the Lyman-α forest in terms of an underlying lognormal model. We find that the lognormal model is good description of the underlying density distribution for redshifts z > 3. Our independent measurements of the optical depth agree with previous standard results. / by Kristin M. Burgess. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 187-196). / by Mauricio Barahona García. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 174-177). Vita. / by Juncai Gao. / Ph.D.

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 37-39). / I apply the theory of polar and apolar intermolecular interactions to predict the behavior of combinations of common battery materials, specifically the cathode substrate lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) and the polymer separator poly(ethylene oxide). These predictions were first tested qualitatively using hexane and PTFE, which have well-established surface energies, and then by measuring the contact angles of PEO on LCO in hexane and hexadecane, chosen for their immiscibility in PEO. For better comparison, these experiments were repeated using water instead of PEO, for a total of four systems tested. This data allowed an estimate for the experimental surface energy components of LCO to be derived, resulting in 18.3 ± 1 mJ/m2 for [gamma]LW, 0.22 ± 0.02 mJ/m2 for [gamma]+, and 5.8 ± 1.6 mJ/m2 for [gamma]-, compared to the previously reported values of 40.8 mJ/m2 for [gamma]LW, 0.0008 mJ/m2 for [gamma]+, and 0.21 mJ/m2 for [gamma]-. This variation is probably due to a variety of factors, including instrumental uncertainty in the contact angle measurement, a difference in contact angle measurement procedure, and inevitable contamination by water and other materials. Using this new data, self-assembling electrolyte-cathode systems are predicted, like LCO-polyacrylonitrile-chloroform. / by Christalee Bieber. / S.B.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 1951. / Vita. / Includes bibliographical references. / by George Fred Koster. / Ph.D.

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-73). / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / by Kasey Josephine Ensslin. / S.B.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 1994. / Vita. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 118-120). / by Kien Boon Teo. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 1994. / Vita. / Includes bibliographical references. / by Daniel Paul Aalberts. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 1988. / Includes bibliographical references. / by John Douglas Moody. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2009. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Cataloged from student submitted PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 217-237). / The effects of general relativity (GR) in astrophysical systems are often difficult to calculate, but they can have important consequences for observables. This thesis considers the impact of previously-ignored GR effects in two different types of compact binary systems. The first is the coalescence of massive black holes in high-redshift galaxies. The gravitational waves (GWs) from these systems can be detected by the proposed low-frequency gravitational wave detector LISA and used to determine the various parameters which characterize the binary. Most studies of LISA's parameter estimation capability have ignored a significant piece of physics: the relativistic precession of the binary's angular momentum vectors. In the first two-thirds of this thesis, we show how including precession effects in the waveform model helps to break various degeneracies and improve the expected parameter errors. We give special attention to the localization parameters, sky position and distance. When distance is converted to an approximate redshift, these parameters define a "pixel" on the sky in which astronomers can search for an electromagnetic counterpart to the GW event. The final third of this thesis focuses on stellar -mass compact binaries in which at least one member is a neutron star. The measurement of tidal effects in these systems may shed some light on the poorly understood high-density equation of state. We first calculate the point at which a neutron star tidally disrupts in the field of a black hole. Previous calculations of this effect have used Newtonian self-gravity, which is inappropriate for a neutron star; we correct this by using relativistic perturbation theory. / (cont.) We then turn to small tidal distortions of neutron stars, which can be characterized by a quantity known as the Love number. We calculate relativistic Love numbers for a wide variety of equations of state and investigate their impact on the GWs from neutron star-neutron star binaries. / by Ryan Nathan Lang. / Ph.D.