La zone morte, région laminaire confinée au coeur des disques protoplanétaires dont la turbulence de l'écoulement à petite échelle explique l'accrétion de matière sur l'étoile en formation, semble être un lieu propice à la formation planétaire. En effet, au bord interne de la zone morte la différence d'accrétion entraîne le développement d'une sur-densité capable de piéger les grains de poussière qui dérivent vers l'étoile. L'écoulement à cet endroit est de plus potentiellement instable. Le cas échéant, il s'organise en structures tourbillonnaires appelées ''vortex'' qui collectent efficacement la poussière. La position du bord interne est toutefois très incertaine et dépend en particulier de la thermodynamique du modèle de disque considéré. Récemment, le déplacement du bord interne a été envisagé pour expliquer la variabilité de l'accrétion des étoiles jeunes. Cette thèse aborde le problème posé par l'influence de la thermodynamique sur la dynamique du bord interne de la zone morte. Des simulations MHD qui incluent le couplage entre les processus thermodynamiques avec la dynamique de l'écoulement ont tout d'abord permis de confirmer le comportement dynamique du bord interne ainsi que de réaliser la mesure inédite de sa vitesse typique de déplacement. La comparaison de ces résultats avec les prédictions données par un modèle de champ moyen a révélé le rôle du transport d'énergie par des ondes excitées au bord interne de la zone morte. Ces simulations présentent de plus un phénomène nouveau: les vortex formés à l'interface suivent un cycle de formation-migration-destruction. Cette découverte est susceptible de modifier notre vision du scénario de formation planétaire. En résumé, cette thèse met en évidence le fait que les processus thermodynamiques sont au coeur du fonctionnement de la région du bord interne de la zone morte dans les disques protoplanétaires. / The dead zone, a quiescent region enclosed in the turbulent flow of a protoplanetary disk, seems to be a promising site for planet formation. Indeed, the development of a density maximum at the dead zone inner edge, that has the property to trap the infalling dust, is a natural outcome of the accretion mismatch at this interface. Moreover, the flow here may be unstable and organize itself into vortical structures that efficiently collect dust grains. The inner edge location is however loosely constrained. In particular, it depends on the thermodynamical prescriptions of the disk model that is considered. It has been recently proposed that the inner edge is not static and that the variations of young stars accretion luminosity are the signature of this interface displacements. This thesis address the question of the impact of the gas thermodynamics onto its dynamics around the dead zone inner edge. MHD simulations including the complex interplay between thermodynamical processes and the dynamics confirmed the dynamical behaviour of the inner edge. A first measure of the interface velocity has been realised. This result has been compared to the predictions of a mean field model. It revealed the crucial role of the energy transport by density waves excited at the interface. These simulations also exhibit a new intriguing phenomenon: vortices forming at the interface follow a cycle of formation-migration-destruction. This vortex cycle may compromise the formation of planetesimals at the inner edge. This thesis claims that thermodynamical processes are at the heart of how the region around the dead zone inner edge in protoplanetary disks works.

L’éon Archéen est marqué par un phénomène majeur dans l’histoire de la terre :la stabilisation de du manteau lithosphérique continental. Bien que le rôle réel de cette stabilisation en tant qu’acteur dans la géodynamique archéenne ne soit pas encore parfaitement établi, elle a joué un rôle important, par la suite, dans le développement et la préservation de la croûte continentale stabilisée sous la forme de cratons. L’isolement de cette lithosphère par rapport à l’asthénosphère convective a dû également avoir une incidence importante sur l’évolution du manteau et sur son régime thermique. Comprendre les processus qui ont formé et modifié le manteau lithosphérique sub-cratonique à l’Archéen est donc essentiel pour appréhender l’évolution géodynamique du globe terrestre. L’origine et l’histoire de ce manteau lithosphérique restent encore très controversées car bien qu’il ait été épargné depuis deux milliards d’années de toute tectonique active, les roches qui le constituent ont subi des rééquilibrages chimiques et/ou modaux suite à un ou plusieurs événements métasomatiques. Ce travail s’inscrit en grande partie dans cette problématique avec une étude détaillée des équilibres existant entre les différentes phases minéralogiques des péridotites inclues dans les kimberlites de Thaba Putsoa et de Letseng-la-Terrae (Lesotho). L’étude de ces équilibres minéralogiques nous permet de déterminer les phases qui résultent (ou ont été modifiées) d’un phénomène métasomatique, et inversement d’en apprendre sur la nature de celui-ci. Le traitement des données pétrographiques, géochimiques et thermodynamiques a établi que la partie du manteau lithosphérique archéen échantillonnée à Letseng et de Thaba Putsoa ne peut pas être considérée comme homogène et à l’équilibre. On démontre qu’au moins deux épisodes de métasomatisme aux caractéristiques chimiques distinctes ont affecté successivement ces roches. Bien que trois grandes familles de péridotites ont été décrites, l’hypothèse d’un protolithe commun de type harzburgite subcalcique a été proposée pour l’ensemble de la lithosphère archéenne profonde. Ceci implique que tous les clinopyroxènes présents dans ces péridotites soient d'origine secondaire. La question de la validité des modèles thermodynamiques reposant sur le principe d’un équilibre du clinopyroxène avec les autres minéraux se pose dès lors. Cela nous a conduits dans la seconde partie de la thèse à commencer le développement d’un nouvel outil thermodynamique se basant sur une phase minérale plus stable comme l’orthopyroxène. Pour ce faire, un nouveau protocole d'inversion a été proposé permettant la détermination d'un modèle de solution fiable pour cette phase. / Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

For decades, astronomers have used observations of mature planetary systems to constrain planet formation theories, beginning with our own solar system and now the thousands of known exoplanets. Recent advances in instrumentation have given us a direct view of some steps in the planet formation process, such as large-scale protostar and protoplanetary disk features and evolution. However, understanding the details of how planets accrete and interact with their environment requires direct observations of protoplanets themselves. Transition disks, protoplanetary disks with inner clearings that may be caused by forming planets, are the best targets for these studies. Their large distances, compared to the stars normally targeted for direct imaging of exoplanets, make protoplanet detection difficult and necessitate novel imaging techniques. In this dissertation, I describe the results of using non-redundant masking (NRM) to search for forming planets in transition disk clearings. I first present a data reduction pipeline that I wrote to this end, using example datasets and simulations to demonstrate reduction and imaging optimizations. I discuss two transition disk NRM case studies: T Cha and LkCa 15. In the case of T Cha, while we detect significant asymmetries, the data cannot be explained by orbiting companions. The fluxes and orbital motion of the LkCa 15 companion signals, however, can be naturally explained by protoplanets in the disk clearing. I use these datasets and simulated observations to illustrate the effects of scattered light from transition disk material on NRM protoplanet searches. I then demonstrate the utility of the dual-aperture Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer's NRM mode on the bright B[e] star MWC 349A. I discuss the implications of this work for planet formation studies as well as future prospects for NRM and related techniques on next generation instruments.

Vibration monitoring is widely used to determine the condition of various mechanical systems. Traditionally a transducer is attached to the structure under investigation and the vibration signal recorded. This signal is then processed and the required information extracted from the signal. With epicyclic gearboxes this traditional approach is not advisable. This is in part due to the fact that the planet gears rotate internally on a planet carrier. Special techniques are therefore required to extract a viable data signal from the measured vibration signal. These techniques require an additional post-processing step in which a compiled data signal is extracted from the measured data signal. This work investigates the possibility of mounting transducers internally on the rotating planet carrier. Mounting transducers at this location removes the relative motion seen in traditional measurement techniques. An epicyclic gearbox is modified to facilitate the internal mounting of the accelerometers. A number of implementation problems are highlighted and solutions to these problems are discussed. A large portion of the work is dedicated to implementing and qualifying the epicyclic time synchronous averaging technique which is traditionally used to evaluate epicyclic gearboxes. As this technique forms the basis to evaluate the data obtained from internal measurements, it is of fundamental importance that the technique is implemented correctly. It is shown that vibration data can be reliably measured internally, by means of accelerometers mounted on the planet carrier. The internally measured data is compared to data obtained by traditional techniques and shown to be equally adept in detecting deterioration of a planet gear tooth. Simple condition indicators were used to compare the vibration data of the two techniques. It was seen that the data obtained from the internally mounted accelerometers was equally, and in certain cases, slightly more sensitive to planet gear damage. This implies that the technique can be used successfully to evaluate epicyclic gearbox damage. There are a number of practical implementation problems that will limit the use of this technique. As the technology becomes available to transmit measured vibration signals wirelessly, the application of the internal measurement technique will become more viable. A preliminary investigation was also launched into the relationship between a planetary gearbox with a single planet gear and one with multiple planet gears. It is illustrated that vibration data, measured from a gearbox containing a single planet gear, shows an increased sensitivity to planet gear damage. Although a special test rig might be required, the increased sensitivity to damage can provide a method to test planet gears in critical applications such as aircraft gearboxes. Copyright / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering / unrestricted

We present new photometric data of 11 hot Jupiter transiting exoplanets (CoRoT-12b, HATP-5b, HAT-P-12b, HAT-P-33b, HAT-P-37b, WASP-2b, WASP-24b, WASP-60b, WASP-80b, WASP-103b and XO-3b) in order to update their planetary parameters and to constrain information about their atmospheres. These observations of CoRoT-12b, HAT-P-37b and WASP-60b are the first follow-up data since their discovery. Additionally, the first near-UV transits of WASP-80b and WASP-103b are presented. We compare the results of our analysis with previous work to search for transit timing variations (TTVs) and a wavelength dependence in the transit depth. TTVs may be evidence of a third body in the system, and variations in planetary radius with wavelength can help constrain the properties of the exoplanet's atmosphere. For WASP-103b and XO-3b, we find a possible variation in the transit depths which may be evidence of scattering in their atmospheres. The B-band transit depth of HAT-P-37b is found to be smaller than its near-IR transit depth and such a variation may indicate TiO/VO absorption. These variations are detected from 2-4.6s, so follow-up observations are needed to confirm these results. Additionally, a flat spectrum across optical wavelengths is found for five of the planets (HAT-P-5b, HAT-P-12b, WASP-2b, WASP-24b and WASP-80b), suggestive that clouds may be present in their atmospheres. We calculate a refined orbital period and ephemeris for all the targets, which will help with future observations. No TTVs are seen in our analysis with the exception of WASP-80b and follow-up observations are needed to confirm this possible detection.

The increasing number of discovered extra-solar planets opens a new opportunity for studies of the formation of planetary systems. Their diversity keeps challenging the long-standing theories which were based on data primarily from our own solar system. Resonant planetary systems are of particular interest because their dynamical configuration provides constraints on the otherwise unobservable formation and migration phase. In this thesis, formation scenarios for the planetary systems HD128311 and HD45364 are presented. N-body simulations of two planets and two dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of proto-planetary discs are used to realistically model the convergent migration phase and the capture into resonance. The results indicate that the proto-planetary disc initially has a larger surface density than previously thought. Proto-planets are exposed to stochastic forces, generated by density fluctuations in a turbulent disc. A generic model of both a single planet, and two planets in mean motion resonance, being stochastically forced is presented and applied to the system GJ876. It turns out that GJ876 is stable for reasonable strengths of the stochastic forces, but systems with lighter planets can get disrupted. Even if a resonance is not completely disrupted, stochastic forces create characteristic, observable libration patterns. As a further application, the stochastic migration of small bodies in Saturn’s rings is studied. Analytic predictions of collisional and gravitational interactions of a moonlet with ring particles are compared to realistic three dimensional collisional N-body simulations with up to a million particles. Estimates of both the migration rate and the eccentricity evolution of embedded moonlets are confirmed. The random walk of the moonlet is fast enough to be directly observable by the Cassini spacecraft. Turbulence in the proto-stellar disc also plays an important role during the early phases of the planet formation process. In the core accretion model, small, metre-sized particles are getting concentrated in pressure maxima and will eventually undergo a rapid gravitational collapse to form a gravitationally bound planetesimal. Due to the large separation of scales, this process is very hard to model numerically. A scaled method is presented, that allows for the correct treatment of self-gravity for a marginally collisional system by taking into account the relevant small scale processes. Interestingly, this system is dynamically very similar to Saturn’s rings.

Diplomová práce se zabývá tématem alternativních ukazatelů vývoje hospodářství, které berou v úvahu úroveň štěstí ve společnosti. Zkoumá, za jakých historických souvislostí v první polovině 20. století vznikal ukazatel HDP a na co tehdy reagoval a snaží se nastínit, co se od té doby změnilo. Cílem je odpovědět na otázky, zda má smysl měřit indexy na základě štěstí a zda již dozrála doba na rozšíření povědomí o nich.

We present H band spectroscopic and H alpha photometric observations of HD 100546 obtained with the Gemini Planet Imager and the Magellan Visible AO camera. We detect H band emission at the location of the protoplanet HD 100546 b, but show that the choice of data processing parameters strongly affects the morphology of this source. It appears point-like in some aggressive reductions, but rejoins an extended disk structure in the majority of the others. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this emission appears stationary on a timescale of 4.6 years, inconsistent at the 2 sigma level with a Keplerian clockwise orbit at 59 au in the disk plane. The H band spectrum of the emission is inconsistent with any type of low effective temperature object or accreting protoplanetary disk. It strongly suggests a scattered-light origin, as this is consistent with the spectrum of the star and the spectra extracted at other locations in the disk. A nondetection at the 5 sigma level of HD 100546 b in differential H alpha imaging places an upper limit, assuming the protoplanet lies in a gap free of extinction, on the accretion luminosity of 1.7 x 10(-4) L-circle dot and M(M) over dot < 6.3 x 10(-7) M-Jup(2) yr(-1) for 1 R-Jup. These limits are comparable to the accretion luminosity and accretion rate of T-Tauri stars or LkCa 15 b. Taken together, these lines of evidence suggest that the H band source at the location of HD 100546 b is not emitted by a planetary photosphere or an accreting circumplanetary disk but is a disk feature enhanced by the point-spread function subtraction process. This non-detection is consistent with the non-detection in the K. band reported in an earlier study but does not exclude the possibility that HD 100546 b is deeply embedded.

We present the discovery of a brown dwarf companion to the debris disk host star HR 2562. This object, discovered with the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI), has a projected separation of 20.3 +/- 0.3 au (0".618 +/- 0".004) from the star. With the high astrometric precision afforded by GPI, we have confirmed, to more than 5 sigma, the common proper motion of HR 2562B with the star, with only a month-long time baseline between observations. Spectral data in the J-, H-, and K-bands show a morphological similarity to L/T transition objects. We assign a spectral type of L7 +/- 3 to HR 2562B. and derive a luminosity of log(L-bol/L-circle dot) = -4.62 +/- 0.12, corresponding to a mass of 30 +/- 15 M-Jup from evolutionary models at an estimated age of the system of 300-900 Myr. Although the uncertainty in the age of the host star is significant, the spectra and photometry exhibit several indications of youth for HR 2562B. The source has a position angle that is consistent with an orbit in the same plane as the debris disk recently resolved with Herschel. Additionally, it appears to be interior to the debris disk. Though the extent of the inner hole is currently too uncertain to place limits on the mass of HR 2562B, future observations of the disk with higher spatial resolution may be able to provide mass constraints. This is the first brown-dwarf-mass object found to reside in the inner hole of a debris disk, offering the opportunity to search for evidence of formation above the deuterium burning limit in a circumstellar disk.

Cette thèse étudie les mécanismes de dissipation de marée dans les étoiles de faible masse, possédant comme notre Soleil une enveloppe convective externe (i.e. de types M à F), ainsi que dans les planètes géantes gazeuses similaires à Jupiter et Saturne. En particulier, nous cherchons à comprendre et à caractériser l’influence de la structure et de la dynamique internes de ces corps sur les différents mécanismes physiques à l’origine de cette dissipation afin d’évaluer leur importance relative.Dans le cas des planètes géantes, nous utilisons des modèles semi-analytiques préexistants et nous montrons que la dissipation induite par la présence éventuelle d’un cœur solide viscoélastique n’est pas négligeable par rapport à celle induite par les ondes inertielles (dont la force de rappel est l’accélération de Coriolis) dans l’enveloppe convective. Pour les étoiles de faible masse, nous développons de nouvelles méthodes semi-analytiques ainsi que des simulations numériques d’ondes inertielles de marée se propageant dans l’enveloppe convective externe, dont nous calculons et caractérisons la dissipation d’énergie associée. Pour la première fois, nous prenons en compte les effets d’une rotation différentielle latitudinale telle qu’observée dans le Soleil et prédite par de nombreuses simulations numériques de convection dans les étoiles de faible masse. Nous mettons en évidence l’existence de nouvelles familles de modes inertiels ainsi que l’importance des résonances de corotation pour la dissipation de marée. Enfin, nous dérivons une nouvelle prescription pour la viscosité turbulente appliquée à ces ondes de marées en prenant en compte l’influence de la rotation sur les propriétés de la convection le long de l’évolution des étoiles. / This thesis studies the tidal dissipation mechanisms in low-mass stars that have an external convective envelope like the Sun (i.e. from M- to F-type stars), as well as in Jupiter- and Saturn-like gaseous giant planets. We particularly focus on understanding and characterizing the influence of the internal structure and dynamics of these bodies on the various physical mechanisms that cause this tidal dissipation, in order to assess their relative strength.In the case of giant planets, we use preexisting semi-analytical models and we show that the dissipation induced by the possible presence of a viscoelastic solid core is not negligible compared to the one induced by inertial waves (whose restoring force is the Coriolis acceleration) in the convective envelope. For low-mass stars, we perform a new semi-analytic study as well as numerical simulations of tidal inertial waves propagating in the external convective envelope, and we compute the associated energy dissipation. For the first time, the effects of a background latitudinal differential rotation, as observed in the Sun and predicted by various numerical simulations of convection in low-mass stars, is taken into account. We highlight the existence of new families of inertial modes as well as the importance of corotation resonances for tidal dissipation. Finally, we derive a new prescription for the turbulent viscosity applied to these tidal waves that takes into account the influence of rotation on the properties of convective flows along the evolution of stars.