Originally presented as the author's Thesis (Ph. D.)--Hacettepe Üniversitesi, Ankara, Turkey, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 119-135) and index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007. / Phillip Gibbs, Committee Member ; Rick Trebino, Committee Member ; Christoph Fahrni, Committee Member ; Donald Doyle, Committee Member ; Andreas Bommarius, Committee Chair.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Abstract The present thesis investigates the dynamics of wave structures in dense planetary rings by employing hydrodynamic models, along with local N-body simulations of the particulate ring flow. The focus is on the large-scale satellite induced spiral density waves as well as on the free short-scale waves generated by the viscous overstability in Saturn's A and B rings. An analytic weakly nonlinear model is derived by using perturbation theory based on multi-scale methods to compute the damping behavior of nonlinear spiral density waves in a planetary ring subject to viscous overstability. In order to study the complex spatio-temporal evolution of these wave structures, numerical schemes are developed to integrate the hydrodynamical equations in time on large radial domains, taking into account collective self-gravity forces of the ring material, as well as the forcing by an external satellite. The required numerical stability and accuracy is achieved by applying Flux-Vector-Splitting methods aligned with advanced shock-capturing techniques. The free short-scale overstable waves are also investigated with local N-body simulations of the sheared ring flow. In particular, the influence of collective self-gravity between the ring particles as well as the periodic forcing due to a nearby Lindblad resonance on the overstable wave pattern is considered. The linear stability criterion for spiral density waves in Saturn’s rings is found to be identical to the condition for the onset of spontaneous viscous overstability in the limit of long wavelengths and agrees with the stability criterion for density waves derived by Borderies et al. within the streamline formalism. The derived nonlinear damping behavior of density waves can be very different from what has previously been thought. The role of collective self-gravity on the nonlinear evolution of short-scale overstable waves is determined, reconciling the partly contradicting results of previous studies. It is shown that collective self-gravity plays an important role in setting the length-scale on which the nonlinear overstable waves saturate in a planetary ring. A co-existence of spiral density waves and short-scale overstable waves is modeled in terms of one-dimensional large-scale hydrodynamical integrations. Due to the restriction to one space dimension, certain terms in the hydrodynamical equations that arise from the spiral shape of a density wave need to be approximated based on the weakly nonlinear model. These integrations reveal that density waves and spontaneous viscous overstability undergo complex interactions. In particular it is found that, depending on the relative magnitude of the two wave structures, the presence of short-scale overstable waves can lead to a damping of an overstable density wave and vice versa, density waves can suppress overstability. The effect of a density wave on the viscous overstability is also studied in terms of a simplified axisymmetric model of a ring perturbed by a nearby Lindblad resonance. A linear hydrodynamic stability analysis and local N-body simulations of this model system conform the corresponding results of the large-scale hydrodynamical integrations.

Os modelos atuais sobre formação planetária indicam que os planetas gasosos gigantes formam-se em escalas de tempo de ~ 10 Manos, inferiores à dos pequenos, rochosos, de ~ 30 Manos (Zuckerman & Song 2004). Um teste simples desses modelos de formação seria procurar planetas em torno de estrelas jovens de várias idades: nos sistemas mais jovens não dever-se-ia detectar objetos telúricos, que só apareceriam em torno de estrelas relativamente mais velhas. Os satélites CoRoT e Kepler, que se encontram em pleno regime de observações, vêm descobrindo exoplanetas pelo método dos trânsitos, sendo capaz de detectar corpos de dimensões terrestres. O objetivo deste trabalho, é selecionar sistemas planetários jovens de várias idades para serem observados pelo dois satélites, a fim de testar as escalas de tempo de formação de planetas rochosos e gasosos. Para atingir esse objetivo foi necessário entender como a idade pode ser estimada para um grupo de estrelas (aglomerado aberto ou associação), utilizando-se, por exemplo, dados sobre abundâncias químicas do lítio dos objetos. Isso é possível devido à facilidade do lítio em ser destruído na fase pré-sequencia principal, a temperaturas superiores 2,5 10^6 K. Um levantamento amostral da abundância do lítio em função da temperatura, para estrelas pertecentes a um grupo, gera um padrão de depleção do lítio, que permite gerar um modelo (da Silva et al. 2009) qualitativo para se obter idades de associações estelares. Para que o propósito deste trabalho fosse alcançado, foram utilizados os bancos de dados de objetos jovens existentes em associações com idades bem determinadas de (Torres et al. 2008), e o catálogo DAML de (Dias et al. 2002) de aglomerados abertos. A seleção dos dados para cada satélite produziu resultados bem diferentes. Para o CoRoT, a análise do banco de dados de associações retornou resultados com uma associação no centro galáctico e outra de ~ 70 Manos no anti-centro; por outro lado, no campo do Kepler, não se encontrou objetos jovens que possibilitassem atender os objetivos deste trabalho. Na análise do catálogo DAML de aglomerados abertos, surgiram muitos candidatos-alvo para observações. Para o CoRoT, foi possível concluir que os aglomerados NGC 2244 de 7,87 Manos, NGC 2264 de 8,99 Manos, Collinder 107 de 10 Manos, Collinder 96 de 10,74 Manos, e NGC 2302 de 12,02 Manos contêm alvos onde deve-se encontrar somente planetas gigantes gasosos em estágio inicial e/ou final de formação, de acordo com o capítulo 1. Os aglomerados relativamente mais velhos, onde devem-se encontrar planetas rochosos e gasosos são: NGC 6755 de 52,36 Manos, Basel 1 de 78,16 Manos, NGC 6694 de 85,31 Manos, NGC 2186 de 54,70 Manos, NGC 2422 de 72,61 Manos e Bochum 3 de 77,62 Manos. Portanto a etapa de seleção de alvos a serem observados pelo CoRoT foi feita, e com isso, os eventuais resultados observacionais servirão de teste para as escalas de tempo de formação planetária propostos nos modelos correntes. Para o Kepler, não foi encontrado nenhum membro de aglomerado jovem observável em seu campo de visibilidade e seu intervalo de magnitudes. / Current models of planetary formation suggest that the giant gaseous planets are formed in time scales of ~ 10 Myr, less than the rocky ones, in time scales of ~ 30 Myr (Zuckerman & Song 2004). A simple test of these models of formation it would look for planets around young stars of various ages: in younger systems it should not detect terrestrial objects, which only appear around stars relatively older. CoRoT and Kepler satellites, which are at full system of observations, have been discovering exoplanets by the method of transits, being able to detect Earth-size bodies. The goal of this work is to select young planetary systems of various ages to be observed by the two satellites, in order to test the time scales of formation of rocky and gaseous planets. To achieve this goal it was necessary to understand how age can be estimated for a group of stars (open cluster or association), using, for example, data on chemical abundances of lithium objects. This is possible because of the ease of lithium to be destroyed in the pre-main sequence, at temperatures above 2,5 10^6 K. A sample survey of the abundance of lithium as a function of temperature for stars belonging to a group, generates a lithium depletion pattern, which creates a qualitatively model (da Silva et al. 2009) to obtain ages of star associations. For the purpose of this study was reached, the databases of objects in youth associations with well-determined ages from (Torres et al. 2008) was used, as well, the catalog DAML from (Dias et al. 2002) of open clusters. The selection of data for each satellite has produced quite different results. For CoRoT, the analysis of the database of associations returned results with a association in the galactic center and another with ~ 70 Myr in the anti-Galactic center, on the other hand, in the field of Kepler did not find young objects that would enable meet the goals of this work.. In the analysis of DAML catalog of open clusters have emerged many candidates targeted for observations. For the CoRoT was concluded that the clusters NGC 2244 of 7,87 Myr, NGC 2264 of 8,99 Myr, Collinder 107 of 10 Myr, Collinder 96 of 10,74 Myr, and NGC 2302 of 12,02 Myr contain targets where should be found only gas giant planets in the early stage and/or end of formation, in accordance with Chapter 1. The relatively older clusters, where they must be found rocky and gaseous planets are: NGC 6755 of 52,36 Myr, Basel 1 of 78,16 Myr, NGC 6694 of 85,31 Myr, NGC 2186 of 54,70 Myr, NGC 2422 of 72,61 Myr e Bochum 3 de 77,62 Myr. Therefore the step of selecting targets to be observed by the CoRoT was made, and thus, any observational results serve as a test for the timescales of planet formation proposed in the current models. For Kepler, it did not find any member of young cluster observed in its field of vision and its range of magnitudes.

We demonstrate a path to hitherto unachievable differential photometric precisions from the ground, both in the optical and near-infrared (NIR), using custom-fabricated beam-shaping diffusers produced using specialized nanofabrication techniques. Such diffusers mold the focal plane image of a star into a broad and stable top-hat shape, minimizing photometric errors due to non-uniform pixel response, atmospheric seeing effects, imperfect guiding, and telescope-induced variable aberrations seen in defocusing. This PSF reshaping significantly increases the achievable dynamic range of our observations, increasing our observing efficiency and thus better averages over scintillation. Diffusers work in both collimated and converging beams. We present diffuser-assisted optical observations demonstrating 62(-16)(+26) ppm precision in 30 minute bins on a nearby bright star 16 Cygni A (V = 5.95) using the ARC 3.5 m telescope-within a factor of similar to 2 of Kepler's photometric precision on the same star. We also show a transit of WASP-85-Ab (V = 11.2) and TRES-3b (V = 12.4), where the residuals bin down to 180(-41)(+66) ppm in 30 minute bins for WASP-85-Ab-a factor of similar to 4 of the precision achieved by the K2 mission on this target-and to 101 ppm for TRES-3b. In the NIR, where diffusers may provide even more significant improvements over the current state of the art, our preliminary tests demonstrated 137(-36)(+64) ppm precision for a K-S = 10.8 star on the 200 inch. Hale Telescope. These photometric precisions match or surpass the expected photometric precisions of TESS for the same magnitude range. This technology is inexpensive, scalable, easily adaptable, and can have an important and immediate impact on the observations of transits and secondary eclipses of exoplanets.

We report the results of high-angular-resolution observations that search for exozodiacal light in a sample of main sequence stars and sub-giants. Using the "jouvence" of the fiber linked unit for optical recombination (JouFLU) at the center for high angular resolution astronomy (CHARA) telescope array, we have observed a total of 44 stars. Out of the 44 stars, 33 are new stars added to the initial, previously published survey of 42 stars performed at CHARA with the fiber linked unit for optical recombination (FLUOR). Since the start of the survey extension, we have detected a K-band circumstellar excess for six new stars at the similar to 1% level or higher, four of which are known or candidate binaries, and two for which the excess could be attributed to exozodiacal dust. We have also performed follow-up observations of 11 of the stars observed in the previously published survey and found generally consistent results. We do however detect a significantly larger excess on three of these follow-up targets: Altair, v And and kappa CrB. Interestingly, the last two are known exoplanet host stars. We perform a statistical analysis of the JouFLU and FLUOR samples combined, which yields an overall exozodi detection rate of 21.7(-4.1)(+5.7) %. We also find that the K-band excess in FGK-type stars correlates with the existence of an outer reservoir of cold (less than or similar to 100 K) dust at the 99% confidence level, while the same cannot be said for A-type stars.

In the last decade, over a million stars were monitored to detect transiting planets. Manual interpretation of potential exoplanet candidates is labour intensive and subject to human error, the results of which are difficult to quantify. Here we present a new method of detecting exoplanet candidates in large planetary search projects that, unlike current methods, uses a neural network. Neural networks, also called 'deep learning' or 'deep nets', are designed to give a computer perception into a specific problem by training it to recognize patterns. Unlike past transit detection algorithms, deep nets learn to recognize planet features instead of relying on hand-coded metrics that humans perceive as the most representative. Our convolutional neural network is capable of detecting Earth-like exoplanets in noisy time series data with a greater accuracy than a least-squares method. Deep nets are highly generalizable allowing data to be evaluated from different time series after interpolation without compromising performance. As validated by our deep net analysis of Kepler light curves, we detect periodic transits consistent with the true period without any model fitting. Our study indicates that machine learning will facilitate the characterization of exoplanets in future analysis of large astronomy data sets.

We present an optical eclipse observation of the hot Jupiter WASP-12b using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on board the Hubble Space Telescope. These spectra allow us to place an upper limit of A(g) < 0.064 (97.5% confidence level) on the planet's white light geometric albedo across 290-570 nm. Using six wavelength bins across the same wavelength range also produces stringent limits on the geometric albedo for all bins. However, our uncertainties in eclipse depth are similar to 40% greater than the Poisson limit and may be limited by the intrinsic variability of the Sun-like host star-the solar luminosity is known to vary at the 10(-4) level on a timescale of minutes. We use our eclipse depth limits to test two previously suggested atmospheric models for this planet: Mie scattering from an aluminum-oxide haze or cloud-free Rayleigh scattering. Our stringent nondetection rules out both models and is consistent with thermal emission plus weak Rayleigh scattering from atomic hydrogen and helium. Our results are in stark contrast with those for the much cooler HD 189733b, the only other hot Jupiter with spectrally resolved reflected light observations; those data showed an increase in albedo with decreasing wavelength. The fact that the first two exoplanets with optical albedo spectra exhibit significant differences demonstrates the importance of spectrally resolved reflected light observations and highlights the great diversity among hot Jupiters.

Disks around brown dwarfs (BDs) are excellent laboratories to study the first steps of planet formation in cold and low-mass disk conditions. The radial-drift velocities of dust particles in BD disks higher than in disks around more massive stars. Therefore, BD disks are expected to be more depleted in millimeter-sized grains compared to disks around T Tauri or Herbig Ae/Be stars. However, recent millimeter observations of BD disks revealed low millimeter spectral indices, indicating the presence of large grains in these disks and challenging models of dust evolution. We present 3 mm photometric observations carried out with the IRAM/Plateau de Bure Interferometer (PdBI) of three BD disks in the Taurus star-forming region, which have been observed with ALMA at 0.89 mm. The disks were not resolved and only one was detected with enough confidence (similar to 3.5 sigma) with PdBI. Based on these observations, we obtain the values and lower limits of the spectral index and find low values (alpha(mm) less than or similar to 3.0). We compare these observations in the context of particle trapping by an embedded planet, a promising mechanism to explain the observational signatures in more massive and warmer disks. We find, however, that this model cannot reproduce the current millimeter observations for BD disks, and multiple-strong pressure bumps globally distributed in the disk remain as a favorable scenario to explain observations. Alternative possibilities are that the gas masses in the BD disk are very low (similar to 2 x 10(-3) M-Jup) such that the millimeter grains are decoupled and do not drift, or fast growth of fluffy aggregates.