Difference equations arise in many fields of mathematics, both as discrete analogs of continuous behavior (analysis, numerical approximations) and as independent models for discrete behavior (population dynamics, economics, biology, ecology, etc.). In recent years, many models - especially in mathematical biology - are based on higher order nonlinear difference equations. As a result, there has been much focus on the existence of periodic solutions of certain classes of these equations and the asymptotic behavior of these periodic solutions. In this dissertation, we study the existence and global attractivity of both periodic and quasiperiodic solutions of two different higher order nonlinear difference equations. Both equations arise in biological applications.

In this work, some new results to exploit the recurrence properties of quasiperiodic dynamical systems are presented by means of a two dimensional visualization technique, Recurrence Plots(RPs). Quasiperiodicity is the simplest form of dynamics exhibiting nontrivial recurrences, which are common in many nonlinear systems. The concept of recurrence was introduced to study the restricted three body problem and it is very useful for the characterization of nonlinear systems. I have analyzed in detail the recurrence patterns of systems with quasiperiodic dynamics both analytically and numerically. Based on a theoretical analysis, I have proposed a new procedure to distinguish quasiperiodic dynamics from chaos. This algorithm is particular useful in the analysis of short time series. Furthermore, this approach demonstrates to be efficient in recognizing regular and chaotic trajectories of dynamical systems with mixed phase space. Regarding the application to real situations, I have shown the capability and validity of this method by analyzing time series from fluid experiments. / In dieser Arbeit stelle ich neue Resultate vor, welche zeigen, wie man Rekurrenzeigenschaften quasiperiodischer, dynamischer Systeme für eine Datenanalyse ausnutzen kann. Die vorgestellten Algorithmen basieren auf einer zweidimensionalen Darstellungsmethode, den Rekurrenz-Darstellungen. Quasiperiodizität ist die einfachste Dynamik, die nicht-triviale Rekurrenzen zeigt und tritt häufig in nichtlinearen Systemen auf. Nicht-triviale Rekurrenzen wurden im Zusammenhang mit dem eingeschränkten Dreikörper-problem eingeführt. In dieser Arbeit, habe ich mehrere Systeme mit quasiperiodischem Verhalten analytisch untersucht. Die erhaltenen Ergebnisse helfen die Wiederkehreigenschaften dieser Systeme im Detail zu verstehen. Basierend auf den analytischen Resultaten, schlage ich einen neuen Algorithmus vor, mit dessen Hilfe selbst in kurzen Zeitreihen zwischen chaotischem und quasiperiodischem Verhalten unterschieden werden kann. Die vorgeschlagene Methode ist besonders effizient zur Unterscheidung regulärer und chaotischer Trajektorien mischender dynamischer Systeme.Die praktische Anwendbarkeit der vorgeschlagenen Analyseverfahren auf Messdaten, habe ich gezeigt, indem ich erfolgreich Zeitreihen aus fluid-dynamischen Experimenten untersucht habe.

Understanding the phenomenon of wave scattering by random media is a ubiquitous problem that has instigated extensive research in the field. This thesis focuses on wave scattering by quasiperiodic media as an alternative approach to provide insight into the effects of structural aperiodicity on the propagation of the waves. Quasiperiodic structures are aperiodic yet ordered so have attributes that make them beneficial to explore. Quasiperiodic lattices are also used to model the atomic structures of quasicrystals; materials that have been found to have a multitude of applications due to their unusual characteristics. The research in this thesis is motivated by both the mathematical and physical benefits of quasiperiodic structures and aims to bring together the two important and distinct fields of research: waves in heterogeneous media and quasiperiodic lattices. A review of the past literature in the area has highlighted research that would be beneficial to the applied mathematics community. Thus, particular attention is paid towards developing rigorous mathematical algorithms for the construction of several quasiperiodic lattices of interest and further investigation is made into the development of periodic structures that can be used to model quasiperiodic media. By employing established methods in multiple scattering new techniques are developed to predict and approximate wave propagation through finite and infinite arrays of isotropic scatterers with quasiperiodic distributions. Recursive formulae are derived that can be used to calculate rapidly the propagation through one- and two-dimensional arrays with a one-dimensional Fibonacci chain distribution. These formulae are applied, in addition to existing tools for two-dimensional multiple scattering, to form comparisons between the propagation in one- and two-dimensional quasiperiodic structures and their periodic approximations. The quasiperiodic distributions under consideration are governed by the Fibonacci, the square Fibonacci and the Penrose lattices. Finally, novel formulae are derived that allow the calculation of Bloch-type waves, and their properties, in infinite periodic structures that can approximate the properties of waves in large, or infinite, quasiperiodic media.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Desde a descoberta do estado quasicristalino por Daniel Shechtman et al. em 1984 e da fabricação por Roberto Merlin et al. de uma superrede artificial de GaAs/ AlAs em 1985 com características da sequência de Fibonacci, um grande número de trabalhos teóricos e experimentais tem relatado uma variedade de propriedades interessantes no comportamento de sistemas aperiódicos. Do ponto de vista teórico, é bem sabido que a cadeia de Fibonacci em uma dimensão se constitui em um protótipo de sucesso para a descrição do estado quasicristalino de um sólido. Dependendo da regra de inflação, diferentes tipos de estruturas aperiódicas podem ser obtidas. Esta diversidade originou as chamadas regras metálicas e devido à possibilidade de tratamento analítico rigoroso este modelo tem sido amplamente estudado. Neste trabalho, propriedades de localização em uma dimensão são analisadas considerando-se um conjunto de regras metálicas e o modelo de ligações fortes de banda única. Considerando-se o Hamiltoniano de ligações fortes com um orbital por sítio obtemos um conjunto de transformações relativas aos parâmetros de dizimação, o que nos permitiu calcular as densidades de estados (DOS) para todas as configurações estudadas. O estudo detalhado da densidade de estados integrada (IDOS) para estes casos, mostra o surgimento de plateaux na curva do número de ocupação explicitando o aparecimento da chamada escada do diabo" e também o caráter fractal destas estruturas. Estudando o comportamento da variação da energia em função da variação da energia de hopping, construímos padrões do tipo borboletas de Hofstadter, que simulam o efeito de um campo magnético atuando sobre o sistema. A natureza eletrônica dos auto estados é analisada a partir do expoente de Lyapunov (γ), que está relacionado com a evolução da função de onda eletrônica ao longo da cadeia unidimensional. O expoente de Lyapunov está relacionado com o inverso do comprimento de localização (ξ= 1 /γ), sendo nulo para os estados estendidos e positivo para estados localizados. Isto define claramente as posições dos principais gaps de energia do sistema. Desta forma, foi possível analisar o comportamento autossimilar de cadeias com diferentes regras de formação. Analisando-se o espectro de energia em função do número de geração de cadeias que seguem as regras de ouro e prata foi feito, obtemos conjuntos do tipo-Cantor, que nos permitiu estudar o perfil do calor específico de uma cadeia e Fibonacci unidimensional para diversas gerações / Since the discovery of a quasicrystalline state by Daniel Shechtman et al. in 1984 and the growth of artificial GaAs/AlAs superlattices on nonperiodic Fibonacci sequence by Roberto Merlin et al., a number of theoretical and experimental works have reported a variety of interesting physical properties of aperiodic systems. Theoretically, it is well known that in one dimension, the Fibonacci chain is a successful prototype to describe a quasicrystalline state. Depending on the in ation rule, different kinds of aperiodic structures can be obtained. This diversity originates the called metallic means, and due to the possibility of analytical and rigorous mathematical treatments the Fibonacci model has been applied by several authors. In this work, electronic localization properties are studied, taking into account a set of metallic means in one dimension. Considering a single band tight-binding Hamiltonian, a set of decimation transformations is obtained allowing the calculation of the Density of States (DOS) for all configurations. The detailed study of the Integrated Density of States (IDOS), shows the appearance of plateaux in the occupation number curve exhibiting the so-called "devil's staircase"indicating the fractal nature of the structures. Studying the behavior of the energy as a function of the hopping we derive Hofstadter butter y type patters, which simulate the effect of a magnetic field acting on the system. The electronic nature of the eigenstate is analyzed by looking at the Lyapunov exponent which is related to the evolution of the electronic wave unction along the one dimensional chain. Since it is zero for an extended state and positive for a localized one, defining the main gaps positions, it is related to the inverse of the localization length. Through a careful analysis of the Lyapunov curves it was also possible to obtain the perfect self-similarity structures for all chains. In particular,for the chains that follow the golden and silver rules, the study of the energy behavior was done by analyzing the energy spectrum as a function of the generation number of each one of the chains. The results yield Cantor-like sets, which allowed us to calculate the specific heat profile for several generations of the one-dimensional Fibonacci chain.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Desde a descoberta do estado quasicristalino por Daniel Shechtman et al. em 1984 e da fabricação por Roberto Merlin et al. de uma superrede artificial de GaAs/ AlAs em 1985 com características da sequência de Fibonacci, um grande número de trabalhos teóricos e experimentais tem relatado uma variedade de propriedades interessantes no comportamento de sistemas aperiódicos. Do ponto de vista teórico, é bem sabido que a cadeia de Fibonacci em uma dimensão se constitui em um protótipo de sucesso para a descrição do estado quasicristalino de um sólido. Dependendo da regra de inflação, diferentes tipos de estruturas aperiódicas podem ser obtidas. Esta diversidade originou as chamadas regras metálicas e devido à possibilidade de tratamento analítico rigoroso este modelo tem sido amplamente estudado. Neste trabalho, propriedades de localização em uma dimensão são analisadas considerando-se um conjunto de regras metálicas e o modelo de ligações fortes de banda única. Considerando-se o Hamiltoniano de ligações fortes com um orbital por sítio obtemos um conjunto de transformações relativas aos parâmetros de dizimação, o que nos permitiu calcular as densidades de estados (DOS) para todas as configurações estudadas. O estudo detalhado da densidade de estados integrada (IDOS) para estes casos, mostra o surgimento de plateaux na curva do número de ocupação explicitando o aparecimento da chamada escada do diabo" e também o caráter fractal destas estruturas. Estudando o comportamento da variação da energia em função da variação da energia de hopping, construímos padrões do tipo borboletas de Hofstadter, que simulam o efeito de um campo magnético atuando sobre o sistema. A natureza eletrônica dos auto estados é analisada a partir do expoente de Lyapunov (γ), que está relacionado com a evolução da função de onda eletrônica ao longo da cadeia unidimensional. O expoente de Lyapunov está relacionado com o inverso do comprimento de localização (ξ= 1 /γ), sendo nulo para os estados estendidos e positivo para estados localizados. Isto define claramente as posições dos principais gaps de energia do sistema. Desta forma, foi possível analisar o comportamento autossimilar de cadeias com diferentes regras de formação. Analisando-se o espectro de energia em função do número de geração de cadeias que seguem as regras de ouro e prata foi feito, obtemos conjuntos do tipo-Cantor, que nos permitiu estudar o perfil do calor específico de uma cadeia e Fibonacci unidimensional para diversas gerações / Since the discovery of a quasicrystalline state by Daniel Shechtman et al. in 1984 and the growth of artificial GaAs/AlAs superlattices on nonperiodic Fibonacci sequence by Roberto Merlin et al., a number of theoretical and experimental works have reported a variety of interesting physical properties of aperiodic systems. Theoretically, it is well known that in one dimension, the Fibonacci chain is a successful prototype to describe a quasicrystalline state. Depending on the in ation rule, different kinds of aperiodic structures can be obtained. This diversity originates the called metallic means, and due to the possibility of analytical and rigorous mathematical treatments the Fibonacci model has been applied by several authors. In this work, electronic localization properties are studied, taking into account a set of metallic means in one dimension. Considering a single band tight-binding Hamiltonian, a set of decimation transformations is obtained allowing the calculation of the Density of States (DOS) for all configurations. The detailed study of the Integrated Density of States (IDOS), shows the appearance of plateaux in the occupation number curve exhibiting the so-called "devil's staircase"indicating the fractal nature of the structures. Studying the behavior of the energy as a function of the hopping we derive Hofstadter butter y type patters, which simulate the effect of a magnetic field acting on the system. The electronic nature of the eigenstate is analyzed by looking at the Lyapunov exponent which is related to the evolution of the electronic wave unction along the one dimensional chain. Since it is zero for an extended state and positive for a localized one, defining the main gaps positions, it is related to the inverse of the localization length. Through a careful analysis of the Lyapunov curves it was also possible to obtain the perfect self-similarity structures for all chains. In particular,for the chains that follow the golden and silver rules, the study of the energy behavior was done by analyzing the energy spectrum as a function of the generation number of each one of the chains. The results yield Cantor-like sets, which allowed us to calculate the specific heat profile for several generations of the one-dimensional Fibonacci chain.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:14:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RebenRMG.pdf: 3800723 bytes, checksum: a25f5d04ee938499344a1aa36b4e8be8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-12-29 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico / There is nowadays a growing demand for located cooling and stabilization in optical and electronic devices, haul of portable systems of cooling that they allow a larger independence in several activities. The modules of thermoelectrical cooling are bombs of heat that use efect Peltier, that consists of the production of a temperature gradient when an electric current is applied to a thermoelectrical pair formed by two diferent drivers. That efect is part of a class of thermoelectrical efcts that it is typical of junctions among electric drivers. The modules are manufactured with semiconductors. The used is the bismuth telluride Bi2Te3, arranged in a periodic sequence. In this sense the idea appeared of doing an analysis of a system that obeys the sequence of Fibonacci. The sequence of Fibonacci has connections with the golden proportion, could be found in the reproductive study of the bees, in the behavior of the light and of the atoms, as well as in the growth of plants and in the study of galaxies, among many other applications. An apparatus unidimensional was set up with the objective of investigating the thermal behavior of a module that obeys it a rule of growth of the type Fibonacci. The results demonstrate that the modules that possess periodic arrangement are more eficient / H? atualmente uma demanda crescente por resfriamento localizado e estabiliza??o de temperatura em dispositivos ?pticos e eletr?nicos, alem de sistemas de refrigera??o port?teis que permitem uma maior independ?ncia em diversas atividades. Os m?dulos de refrigera??o termoel?trica s?o bombas de calor que utilizam efeito Peltier, que consiste na produ??o de um gradiente de temperatura quando uma corrente el?trica ? aplicada a um par termoel?trico formado por dois condutores diferentes. Esse efeito faz parte de uma classe de efeitos termoel?tricos que ? t?pico de jun??es entre condutores el?tricos. Os m?dulos s?o fabricados com semicondutores. O mais utilizado ? o telureto de bismuto Bi2Te3, arranjados em uma seq??ncia peri?dica. Neste sentido surgiu a id?ia de fazer uma an?lise de um sistema que obedece a seq??ncia de Fibonacci. A seq??ncia de Fibonacci tem conex ?es com a propor??o ?urea, podendo ser encontrada no estudo reprodutivo das abelhas, no comportamento da luz e dos ?tomos, como tamb?m no crescimento de plantas e no estudo de gal?xias, dentre muitas outras aplica??es. Foi montado um aparato unidimensional com o objetivo de investigar o comportamento t?rmico de um m?dulo que obedece a uma regra de crescimento do tipo Fibonacci. Os resultados demonstram que os m?dulos que possuem arranjo peri?dico s?o mais eficientes iv

Electromagnetic wave phenomena represent a crucial factor during the forma- tion of the Earth's magnetosphere, as they are responsible for the energy trans- fer in the collisionless plasma medium. Multipoint observations of such wave phenomena are particularly useful to distinguish between spatial and temporal intensity variations. Moreover, an approximate event spatial extent and prop- agation directions can be determined. The thesis is focused on the statistical study of conjugate observations of wave phenomena called quasiperiodic (QP) emissions observed by the Van Allen Probes spacecraft and ground-based Kan- nuslehto station. Altogether, 26 simultaneously observed events were analyzed. This approach is unique in the sense that most such analyses up to date were only case studies. The thesis further presents the analysis of the dependence of properties of another wave phenomena, called magnetospheric line radiation (MLR), on the geomagnetic activity indices and solar wind parameters. Geomag- netic activity effects on the event characteristics are revealed. Finally, the effect of interplanetary shocks on the overall very low frequency (VLF) wave intensity measured by the DEMETER spacecraft is studied.

In dieser Arbeit werden zwei nichtlineare Phänomene untersucht, Multistabilität durch verzögerte Rückkopplung und Synchronisation von quasiperiodischen Oszillationen. Dies geschieht mit Hilfe von Halbleiterlasern und auf dem selben Chip wie der Laser integrierter ultrakurzer optischer Rückkopplung. Verzögerte Rückkopplung ist unter anderem die Ursache für das Phänomen der Faltung von Lasermoden, und damit für das Auftreten von mehreren möglichen Laserzuständen für die selben Parameter. Ein tristabiles Regime von Dauerstrichzuständen kann im Experiment für mehrere breite Parameterbereiche der Rückkopplung beobachtet werden. Sehr nahe der Laserschwelle wird einer der Laserzustände durch den stabilen ``aus''''-Zustand ersetzt. Theoretische Betrachtungen im Rahmen des paradigmatischen Lang-Kobayashi Models verzögerter Rückkopplung ermöglichen eine in sich konsistente Interpretation der experimentellen Ergebnisse. Neben der Beeinflussung des stationären Verhaltens eines Halbleiterlasers kann verzögerte Rückkopplung Instabilitäten in der Laseremission hervorrufen. Abhängig von Rückkoppelstärke und -phase werden zwei verschiedene Intensitätspulsationen des emittierten Lichtes beobachtet. Synchronisationsprozesse solcher Pulsationen wurden von mir in einem System von zwei verschiedenen gekoppelten Multisektionslasern untersucht. Periodische Selbstpulsationen von Laser 1 werden hierfür in Laser 2 injiziert, welcher sich in einem Regime quasiperiodischer Intentensitätspulsationen mit zwei fundamentalen Frequenzen befindet. Das Experiment zeigt eine neue Art von Übergang zu synchronem Verhalten, welche kürzlich mit Hilfe von gekoppelten generischen Phasen- und van der Pol Oszillatormodellen aufgedeckt wurde. Desweiteren konnten bislang unerforschte Prozesse des Kohärenzübertrags auch zu nichtsynchronisierten Oszillationen beobachtet werden. / In this work two nonlinear phenomena are investigated, multistability due to delayed feedback and synchronization of quasiperiodic oscillations. The experimental devices are semiconductor lasers with ultra-short optical feedback, which is integrated on the same chip as the laser. Delayed feedback causes the folding of lasing modes, leading to hysteresis effects and even the coexistence of several laser states for the same parameters. A regime of tristability of continuous-wave (cw) states is found for multiple ranges of applied currents. Very close to threshold, one of the lasing states may be replaced by the stable ``off''''-state. Theoretical investigations in the framework of the paradigmatic Lang-Kobayashi model provide a consistent understanding of the experimental findings. Besides modifying the stationary behavior of a semiconductor laser, delayed feedback can cause instabilities of the laser output. Depending on strength and phase of the feedback, two types of self-sustaining pulsations of the emitted light intensity are found in our devices. Synchronization processes of such pulsations are studied in a system of two coupled multisection lasers. Periodic self-pulsations of laser 1 are injected into laser 2, which is operating in a regime with two-frequency quasiperiodic self-pulsations. The experimental system demonstrates the new type of transitions to synchrony between three frequencies which has been recently revealed using generic coupled phase and van der Pol oscillator models. Moreover, carefully determining the coherence of the noisy oscillations, so far unexplored processes of coherence transfer to nonsynchronized oscillations are revealed.

Les centres de rayonnement synchrotron et les Lasers à Électrons Libres (LEL) sont des sources de rayonnement utilisant des Électrons relativistes. Les onduleurs en constituent un élément important : ces instruments qui génèrent un champ magnétique périodique le long de la trajectoire des électrons, guident ces derniers de façon à les faire rayonner ou à rendre l’onde lumineuse émise plus intense. Ce travail porte sur l’étude d’onduleurs de différents types appliqués au Synchrotron SOLEIL, et sur leur possible application sur un LEL. Une première partie du travail porte sur la réalisation pour SOLEIL de deux onduleurs de type APPLE-II. Ce type d’onduleurs permet d’émettre du rayonnement de polarisation variable et les deux onduleurs construits présentent certaines spécificités par rapport à la plupart des onduleurs de ce type. Le premier (HU36) génère un champ magnétique de courte période tout en conservant une valeur crête relativement importante, ce qui lui permet de rayonner sur une large gamme spectrale. Ces caractéristiques entrainent cependant une hystérésis expliquée par la déformation des supports. Les moyens mis en œuvre pour atteindre ces caractéristiques magnétiques et pour réduire l’hystérésis sont présentés. Le deuxième onduleur APPLE-II construit (HU64) présente la double particularité d’être quasipériodique (ou apériodique) afin de réduire la pollution rayonnée aux harmoniques de la longueur d’onde fondamentale, et de permettre l’accès à de la polarisation linéaire inclinée sur une plage de 180° grâce à son châssis étendu. L’optimisation magnétique de sa structure apériodique est détaillée et les difficultés découlant des configurations étendues sont expliquées. Dans un deuxième temps, la réalisation pour SOLEIL d’un troisième onduleur d’un tout autre type est présentée. Il s’agit d’un onduleur hybride sous-vide appelé U20. Des pôles intercalés entre les aimants guident les lignes de champ de façon à augmenter la densité de flux magnétique sur axe, et l’assemblage magnétique ainsi obtenu est installé dans la chambre à vide, ce qui permet de réduire l’entrefer minimum à 5.5 mm et donc, d’accroitre considérablement la valeur crête du champ magnétique généré. Compte-tenu des connaissances acquises pendant la construction des deux onduleurs APPLE-II et de l’onduleur sous-vide, l’étude d’un onduleur combinant ces deux aspects est ensuite proposée. Cet onduleur de tyoe « APPLE-II sous-vide » serait extrêmement polyvalent puisqu’il permettrait l’émission de rayonnement de différentes polarisations sur une large gamme spectrale. L’étude de principe menée ici met en évidence les nombreuses difficultés à surmonter et propose différentes solutions. La dernière partie du travail porte sur l’étude de l’interaction qui s’opère dans le cas d’un LEL au sein de l’onduleur entre les électrons et l’onde lumineuse, conduisant à l’amplification de cette dernière. Des expériences menées en configuration SASE et en mode injecté sur le SPARC (Italie, Frascati) sont rapportées, puis des calculs sont réalisés dans le cadre du projet LUNEX5, pour évaluer l’efficacité de cette interaction dans un onduleur apériodique, et dans l’onduleur APPLE-II sous-vide envisagé précédemment. / Storage rings and Free Electron Lasers (FEL) are relativistic electron based radiation sources, in which an important element is a device called undulator. This apparatus generates a periodic magnetic field along the electron trajectory, guiding the particles in such a way that they lose energy to the benefit of the radiation. This work deals with the study of several undulators of different types, and also their application on FEL sources. A first part of the work is dedicated to the construction of two APPLE-II type undulators for SOLEIL. Undulators of this type are able to emit radiation of variable polarization states, and the two studied devices present some special characteristics with respect to most of APPLE-II undulators. The first one (HU36) generates a short period high value magnetic field, leading to radiation emitted on a large spectral range. These parameters brought about a hysteresis explained by the deformation of the magnet supports, which was reduced. The second APPLE-II undulator (HU64) is characterized by two particularities: its field is quasi-periodic (or aperiodic) in order to reduce the pollution emitted at harmonics of the fundamental wavelength, and it is based on a special frame enabling radiation of tilted linear polarization on the full range of 180°. The optimization of the aperiodic structure is detailed and the difficulties brought about by the extended frame are explained. The third undulator built for SOLEIL is a hybrid in-vacuum one. Ferromagnetic poles guide the magnetic flux lines in order to increase the on-axis flux density, and the magnetic part of the undulator is included inside the vacuum chamber, which leads to a higher value of the generated field. Starting from the knowledge of both APPLE-II and in-vacuum undulators, the study of a device combining both characteristics is then proposed. Such an in-vacuum APPLE-II undulator would consist in a very performant and flexible apparatus because it could emit radiation of variable polarization on a large spectral range. The study points out the technical difficulties and suggests some solutions. The last part of the work deals with the study of the interaction realized in a FEL between electrons and radiation, resulting in the amplification of the light. Experiments performed in both SASE and injected configurations at the FEL SPARC (Italy, Frascati) are reported. Then calculations are made in the case of the FEL French project LUNEX5 to estimate the interaction efficiency when realized inside a quasi-periodic undulator and also through the previously studied in-vacuum APPLE-II one.

Mg-based alloys form a variety of interesting structures including stable and metastable crystalline, stable and metastable quasicrystalline, nanocrystalline and amorphous phases. Many of these phases can be made to coexist by suitable processing leading to an interesting combination of properties. Non-equilibrium processing in combination with suitable heat treatments can be used to control the scale and dispersion of these phases. Further thrust to Mg-based alloys is expected through the development of Mg-based bulk metallic glasses. Magnesium matrix composites are also gaining in prominence. The thesis has been divided into theoretical and experimental parts. The theoretical part focuses on understanding the structure of quasicrystals, rational approximants and related structures. The experimental work involves synthesis, non-equilibrium processing and characterization of specific Mg-based alloys. The structure of quasicrystals and related structures can be understood by working in three dimensions or by projection from higher dimensions. The projection formalism is used to generate quasicrystals and rational approximants in 2D and 3D. Approximants to the Penrose lattice are generated with directions of approximation oriented 90° and 72° apart. Rational approximants to the icosahedral quasilattice are generated and the systematics of lattice-centring in these approximants analysed. Two-dimensional quasiperiodic lattice with 5-fold symmetry, which is periodic along the third dimension, is generated as an approximant to the icosahedral lattice. Approximants are also considered wherein quasiperiodicity is retained along one or two directions. The concept of average lattices can be used to understand diverse structures including vacancy ordered phases (VOP) and orthorhombic approximants to the decagonal phase. VOP which lack incommensurate length scales should be considered as quasiperiodic superlattice (QPSL) approximants rather than as conventional rational approximants and hence have the average lattice scheme built into them. The average lattice approach is further used to unify Kuo’s and Anantharaman's models for orthorhombic approximants to the decagonal quasicrystal. A modified version of Anantharaman's model is also presented. Using the twinned icosahedron model, Robinson and Taylor approximants to the decagonal quasicrystal are generated by the twinning of Mackay and Little approximants to the icosahedral quasicrystal. An indexing scheme based on this model is developed which inherits the merits of the twinned icosahedron model. Further, using cluster of four icosahedra, in a distorted tetrahedral configuration, symmetries of the hexagonal phases, which are related to quasicrystals, are generated. Frank's ratio is brought out as a unifying thread connecting diverse kinds of structures including VOP and hexagonal phases related to quasicrystals, which have pseudocubic symmetry. Experimental work involves the synthesis and characterization of alloys in four systems: a) Mg-Zn-Y, b) Mg-Zn-La, c) Al-Mg-Cu and d) Mg-Cu-Y. Induction melting is used to prepare the alloys and melt-spinning is used as the primary non-equilibrium processing route. The focus in the Mg-Zn-RE systems is in the as cast condition while in the Al-Mg-Cu system it is in the melt-spun condition. Characterization techniques used are XRD, SEM and TEM. In the Mg-Zn-Y system face-centred icosahedral (FC1) phase with quasilattice parameter of 5.21 A is found to coexist with related crystalline phases in the Mg4Zn94Y2 and Mg23Zn5gY9 alloys. A series of crystalline phases with superlattice ordering are seen in the Mg-Zn-Y and Mg-Zn-La systems. These phases with a variety of ordering, many of which display interesting patterns of streaking in the SAD pattern, are related to one-another and to the FCI QC found in the Mg-Zn-Y system. No quasicrystal could be observed in the two alloys investigated in the Mg-Zn-La system with La = 5 and 8 %. Conventional rational approximants were conspicuous by there absence in both the rare-earth containing systems. This is understood in terms of the absence of large clusters in these systems. High Y alloys display a tendency to form nanocrystals in the as-cast condition and amorphous regions are observed in the as-cast alloys with Y > 20 %. Hence, high Y alloys are anticipated to be bulk glass formers. Melt-spinning of the alloys in both the RE containing systems lead to the formation of nanocrystalline regions. The e/a ratio plays an important role in the formation of phases in the Mg-Zn-Y system. An e/a ratio near 2.08 has a stabilising effect on a variety of phases including the FCI quasicrystal, ternary phases related to the quasicrystal and binary phases like YZn12 and Y2Zn17. Formation of quasicrystals in the Al-Mg binary and Mg-Al-Cu ternary seem to be very sensitive to processing conditions and were not observed in the present investigation in the melt-spun alloys. However, β-Al3Mg2 and Mg32(Al,Cu)49 phases with large lattice parameters, which are related to quasicrystals, are observed in as-cast and melt-spun conditions. The Mg32(Al,Cu)49 phase brings out the similarity between this system and the Mg-Al-Zn system. The glass formability of the alloys in the Al-Mg binary and in the Mg-Al-Cu ternary is limited. Except for the formation of amorphous phase in some regions, the alloys were crystalline even when melt-spun at 2800 rpm. The ability to form nanocrystals is also limited in this system as compared to the Mg-Zn-RE systems. Often melt-spun alloys showed a wide range of grain sizes coexisting together.