Stripped-envelope supernovae were thought to be the explosions of very massive stars (& 20 M) that lost their outer layers of hydrogen and/or helium in strong stellar winds. However, recent studies have highlighted that most stripped-envelope supernovae seem to be arising from rela- tively lower-mass progenitor stars in the 12 20 M(sun) range, creating a mystery about the fate of the higher-mass stars. In this licentiate thesis, we review our knowledge of stripped-envelope supernovae, and present the astrophysical problem of their missing high-mass progenitors. The thesis focuses on observations of unique and rare stripped-envelope supernovae classified with modern optical surveys such as the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) and the Public European Southern Observatory Spectroscopic Survey of Transient Objects (PESSTO). In these surveys we have discovered stripped-envelope supernovae with long-lasting broad lightcurves, which are thought to be a marker for highly massive (& 20 M[sun]) progenitor stars. Despite this exciting association, there are only a handful of existing examples of stripped- envelope supernovae with broad lightcurves published in the literature, not numerous enough to account for the missing high-mass stars. During our efforts, the first object we focused on was OGLE-2014-SN-131, a long-lasting supernova in the southern sky initially classified by PESSTO. We re-classified it as a supernova Type Ibn interacting with a helium-rich circumstellar environment. Unlike all other Type Ibn’s in the literature, OGLE-2014-SN-131 was found to have a long rise-time and large lightcurve broadness. By modeling its bolometric lightcurve, we concluded that OGLE-2014-SN-131 must have had an unusually massive progenitor star. Furthermore, since an ordinary radioactive- decay model could not reproduce the lightcurve, we investigated both a magnetar and circum- stellar interaction as potential powering scenarios and favored the latter due to the signatures of interaction present in the spectra. Next, we looked for similar objects in the supernova dataset of the iPTF, which contains over 200 stripped-envelope supernovae. Searching in a sub-sample of 100 well-observed supernovae, we identified 11 to have unusually broad lightcurves. We also constrained the distribution of lightcurve broadness for iPTF stripped-envelope supernovae. The 11 with broad lightcurves will be studied carefully in a forthcoming paper. The first part of this forthcoming paper, which describes the careful statistical identification of these super-novae, is included in this thesis. In it we identify that 10% of the iPTF stripped-envelope supernova sample have broad lightcurves, which a surprisingly high fraction given their rarity in the published literature. Finally, we evaluate whether our estimate of the fraction of broad stripped-envelope supernovae could help explain the missing high-mass progenitors, and con- clude that they can only be a small fraction of the missing high-mass progenitors.

Typ Ia Supernovae (SNe) können verwendet werden, um Bulk-Flows zu messen, die durchschnittliche Bewegung von Materie relativ zur kosmischen Mikrowellenhintergrundstrahlung (CMB). Bulk-Flow-Studien ermöglichen Tests der Behauptung des Kosmologischen Prinzips von Homogenität und Isotropie für ausreichend große Distanzen. Im letzten Jahrzehnt wurden mehrere hohe Bulk-Geschwindigkeiten in großen Skalen gemeldet, die schwer mit den Vorhersagen des ΛCDM-Kosmologiemodells zu vereinbaren sind. In dieser Arbeit schätze ich Bulk-Flows auf der Grundlage einer neuen Probe von SNe aus einer Next-Generation-Sky-Survey namens Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). Die Auswahl und Analyse der großen Anzahl von astrophysikalischen Transienten, die jede Nacht von dieser Survey erfasst werden, ist komplex. Ich habe eine flexible Analysis Software namens AMPEL entwickelt, um diese Aufgaben zu erfüllen. Ein neuer ZTF-Datensatz, der aus etwa 850 Typ Ia SNe besteht, wurde für diese Forschung zusammengestellt. Simulationen zeigen, dass die nicht-sphärische Surveygeometrie von ZTF, die aktuellen Stichprobengrößenbeschränkungen und der Malmquist-Bias zusammen systematische Effekte ergeben, die kleiner sind als die aktuellen statistischen Unsicherheiten. Ich habe die ZTF-Probe zusammen mit zwei anderen kosmologischen SNe-Proben im heliozentrischen Inertialsystem verwendet, um das kosmische Ruhesystem unabhängig vom CMB zu etablieren. Der gemessene Beobachter-Dipol innerhalb der Rotverschiebungsschale 0,06 < z < 0,1 zeigt eine Konvergenz mit dem CMB-Temperaturdipol. Im CMB-Inertialsystem im gleichen Skala wird kein signifikanter Bulk-Flow gemessen. / Type Ia supernovae (SNe) can be used to measure bulk flows, the average motion of matter relative to the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). Bulk-flow studies enable tests of the Cosmological Principle’s assertion of large-scale homogeneity and isotropy. Over the past decade, several high bulk-velocities at large scales have been reported, which are difficult to unify with constraints from the ΛCDM cosmological model. In this work, I estimate bulk-flows based on a new sample of SNe from a next-generation sky survey called the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). Selecting and analyzing the large number of astrophysical transients detected each night by this survey is complex. I developed a flexible analysis framework called AMPEL to address these challenges. A new ZTF dataset comprising roughly 850 type Ia SNe was assembled for this research. Simulations show that the non-spherical survey geometry of ZTF, the current sample size limitations, and the Malmquist bias together yield systematic effects smaller than current statistical uncertainties. I used the ZTF sample along with two cosmological-grade SNe samples in heliocentric inertial frame to establish the cosmic rest frame independently from the CMB. The measured observer-dipole within the redshift shell 0.06 < z < 0.1 shows convergence with the CMB temperature dipole. In the CMB inertial frame at the same scale, no significant bulk-flow is detected.

Die Entdeckung eines hochenergetischen Flusses astrophysikalischer Neutrinos stellt einen wesentlichen physikalischen Durchbruch der letzten Jahre dar. Trotz allem ist der Ursprung dieser Neutrinos immer noch unbekannt. Die Suche nach den Quellen der hochenergetischen kosmischen Strahlung ist direkt verbunden mit der Suche nach Neutrinos, da diese in den gleichen hadronischen Prozessen erzeugt werden und eine Neutrinoquelle deshalb einen direkten Hinweis auf eine Quelle der kosmischen Strahlung darstellen würde. Viele potentielle Quellen der Neutrinos werden diskutiert, darunter Kern-Kollaps Supernovae. In dieser Arbeit werden sieben Jahre Daten des IceCube Neutrinoteleskopes mit der Richtung mehreren Hundert Kernkollaps-Supernovae auf Korrelation getestet. Die Analyse gewinnt dabei durch die gute Richtungsrekonstruktion der 700000 Muonspurdaten und der großen Datenbank optische beobachteter Supernovae. Die Sensitivität der zeitabhängigen Likelihood-Analyse wird durch die Kombination mehrere Quellen in einer einzigen Analyse gesteigert. Es wurde kein statistisch signifikantes Cluster von Neutrinos an den Positionen der Supernovae gefunden. Daraus wurden obere Grenzen für verschiedene Modelle berechnet und der Beitrag von Kernkollaps-Supernovae zum diffusen Neutrinofluss eingeschränkt. Daraus können bestimmte Typen von Supernovae als dominate Quelle der diffusen hochenergetischen astrophysikalischen Neutrinos ausgeschlossen werden. / The recent discovery of a high energy flux of astrophysical neutrinos was one of the breakthroughs of the last years. However, the origin of these neutrinos remains still unknown. Also, the search for the sources of high-energy cosmic rays is closely connected to neutrinos since neutrinos are produced in hadronic interactions, and thus the detection of a neutrino source would be a \textit{smoking gun} signature for cosmic rays. Many potential neutrino source classes have been discussed, among these are core-collapse supernovae. In this thesis, seven years of data from the IceCube neutrino observatory are tested for correlation with the direction of hundreds of core-collapse supernovae. The analysis benefits from the good angular reconstruction of the order of one degree and below of the about 700000 muon track events and an extensive database of optical observations of supernovae. Using a time-dependent likelihood method, the sensitivity of the analysis is increased by stacking the sources in a combined analysis. No significant clustering of neutrino events around the position of core-collapse supernovae is found. Upper limits of different neutrino light curve models are computed, and the contribution of core-collapse supernovae to the measured diffuse high energetic neutrino background is constrained. These limits allow excluding certain types of core-collapse supernovae as the dominant source of the observed high energetic astrophysical neutrino flux.

La formation des premières étoiles, quelques centaines de millions d'années après le Big Bang, marque la fin de l’âge sombre. Actuellement, nous n’avons aucune observation de la formation de ces étoiles, appelée popIII, mais d’après des simulations numériques de différents groupes, il semblerait que ces étoiles primordiales étaient très massives: plusieurs centaines de masses solaires. Ces premières étoiles, ont produits aussi des sursauts gamma (GRBs). Ainsi, l’étude des GRBs produits à partir des popIII, pourraient permette d’étudier directement le stade final des étoiles primordiales. Les télescopes d'aujourd'hui ne peuvent pas regarder assez loin dans le passé cosmique pour observer la formation des premières étoiles, mais la nouvelle génération de télescopes permettra de tester des idées théoriques sur la formation des premières étoiles.Les GRBs sont liés à la mort d’étoiles massives et qu'ils sont connectés avec des supernovae. En ce sens, les GRBs sont l'une des classes de processus explosifs en physique stellaire et devraient suivre les mêmes lois physiques que l'explosion des supernovae. Ce travail tente d'aborder le problème des GRBs comme un problème d'explosion stellaire et utilise les données d’observation sur les spectres et les courbes de lumières notamment.Dans le cadre de cette thèse, des outils spécifiques ont été développés pour étudier les explosions stellaires: un code numérique pour résoudre les réactions nucléaires a été incorporé dans le code hydrodynamique existant. Ces outils ont été utilisés dans les simulations de supernovae afin d’étudier les connections avec les sursauts gamma: analyse spectrale et étude statistique en fonction du redshift. / The formation of the first stars hundreds of millions of years after the Big-Bang marks the end of the Dark Ages. Currently, we have no direct observations on how the primordial stars formed, but according to modern theory of stellar evolution these stars should be very massive (about 100 Msun) Population III stars have a potential to produce probably most energetic flashes in the Universe - gamma-ray bursts. GRBs may provide one of the most promising methods to probe directly final stage of life of primordial stars. Today's telescopes cannot look far enough into the cosmic past to observe the formation of the first stars, but the new generation of telescopes will test theoretical ideas about the formation of the first stars.Thanks to many years of observations we have good GRB's data -statistics of occurrence, spectrum, lightcurves. But there are still a lot of questions in the theory of GRBs. We know that GRBs are related to the death of stars and that they are connected with supernovae. So gamma-ray bursts are one of the classes of explosive processes in stellar physics that should have a lot of common with supernovae explosions. In that case GRBs should follow the same physical laws of explosion as supernovae. This work tries to approach the problem of GRBs as a problem of stellar explosion.Necessary instruments of studying stellar explosion were developed as a part of doctoral research: code for solving systems of nuclear reaction equations was incorporated into hydrodynamical code. These tools were applied for supernovae simulations in order to find possible connection with GRBs. Basing on analysis of supernovae simulations spectral analysis of GRBs was performed.

This thesis contributes to the field of dark energy and observational cosmology. We have investigated possible direction dependent systematic signal and non-Gaussian features in the supernovae (SNe) Type Ia data. To detect these effects we propose a new method of analysis. Although We have used this technique on SNe Ia data, it is quite general and can be applied to other data sets as well. SNe Ia are the most precise known distance indicators at the cosmological distances. Their constant peak luminosity(after correction) makesthem standard candles and hence one can measure the distances in the universe using SNe Ia. This distance measurement can determine various cosmological parameters such as the Hubble constant, various components of matter density and dark energy from, the SNe Ia observations. Recent SNe Ia observations have shown that the expansion of the universe is currently accelerating. This recent acceleration is explained by invoking a component in the universe having negative pressure and is termed as dark energy. It can be described by a homogeneous and isotropic fluid with the equation of state P = wρ, where w is allowed to be negative. A constant(Λ) in the Einstein equation(known as cosmological constant) can explain the acceleration, in the fluid model it can be modeled with w = -1. Other models of dark energy with w = -1 can also explain the acceleration, however the precise nature of this mysterious component remains unknown. Although there exist a wide range of dark energy models, cosmological constant provides the simplest explanation to the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe. The equation of state parameter w has been investigated by recent surveys but the results are still consistent with a wide range of dark energy models. In order to discriminate among various cosmological models we need an even more precise measurement of distance and error bars in the SNe Ia data. From the central limit theorem we expect Gaussian errors in any experiment that is free from systematic noise. However in astronomy we do not have a control over the observed phenomena and thus can not control the systematic errors (due to some physical processes in the Universe) in the observed data. The only possible way to deal with such data is by using appropriate statistical techniques. Among these systematic features the direction dependent features are more dangerous ones since they may indicate a preferred direction in the Universe. To address the issue of direction dependent features we have developed a new technique(Δ statistic henceforth) which is based on the extreme value theory. We have applied this technique to the available high-z SNe Ia data from Riess et al.(2004)and Riess et al.(2007). In addition we have applied it to the HST data from HST key project for H0 measurement. Below we summarize the material presented in the thesis. Chapter wise summary of the thesis In the first chapter we present an introductory discussion of the various basic cosmological notions eg. Cosmological Principle (CP), observational evidence in support of CP and departures from it, distance measures and large scale structure. The observed departures from the CP could be present due to the systematic errors and/or non-Gaussian error bars in the data. We discuss the errors involved in the measurement process Basics of statistical techniques : In the next two chapters we discuss basics of the statistical techniques used in this thesis and extreme value theory. Extreme value theory describes how to calculate the distribution of extreme events. The simplest of the distributions of the extremes is known as the Gumbel distribution. We discuss features of the Gumbel distribution since it is used extensively in our analysis. Δ statistic and features in the SNe data : In the fourth chapter we derive Δ statistic and apply it to the SNe Ia data sets. An outline of the Δ statistic is as follows : a) We define a plane which cuts the sky into hemispheres. This plane will divide the data into two subsets, one in each hemisphere. b) Now we calculate the χ2 in each hemisphere for an FRW universe assuming a flat geometry. c) The difference of χ2 in the two hemisphere is calculated and maximized by rotating the plane. This maximum should follow the Gumbel distribution. Since it is difficult to calculate the analytic form of Gumbel distribution we calculate it numerically assuming Gaussian error bars. This gives the theoretical distribution for the above calculated maximum of difference of χ2 . The results indicate that GD04 shows systematic effects as well non-Gaussian features while the set GD07 is better in terms of systematic effects and non-Gaussian features. Non-Gaussian features in the H0 data : HST key project measures the value of Hubble constant at the level of 10% accuracy, which requires precise measurement of the distances. It uses various methods to measure distance for instance SNe Ia, Tully-Fisher relation, surface-brightness fluctuations etc. In the fifth chapter we apply Δ statistic to the HST Key Project data in order to check the presence of non-Gaussian and direction dependent features. Our results show that although this data set seems to be free of direction dependent features, it is inconsistent with the Gaussian errors. Analytic Marginalization : The quantities of real interest in cosmology are ΩM and ΩΛ, Hubble constant could in principle be treated as a nuisance parameter. It would be useful to marginalize over the nuisance parameter. Although it can be done numerically using Bayesian method, Δ statistic does not allow it. In chapter six we propose a method to marginalize over H0 analytically. The χ2 in this case is a complicated function of errors in the data. We compare this analytic method with the Bayesian marginalization method and results show that the two methods are quite consistent. We apply the Δ statistic to the SNe data after the analytic marginalization. Results do not change much indicating the insensitivity of the direction de-pendent features to the Hubble constant. A variation to the Δ statistic: As has been discussed earlier that, it is difficult to calculate the theoretical distribution of Δ in general. However if the parent distribution follows certain conditions it is possible to derive the analytic form for the Gumbel distribution for Δ. In the seventh chapter we derive a variation to the Δ statistic in a way that allows us to calculate the analytic distribution. The results in this case are different from those presented earlier, but they confirm the same direction dependence and non-Gaussian features in the data.

In this project we investigate the feasibility of detecting the signatures of Pop III stars in metal poor second generation stars and in gas clouds at high redshifts. First, the nucleosynthetic yields of Pair Instability Supernova and how they are manifested in gas clouds are presented. Next, some basic quantities of radio astronomy are explained and the requirements of SKA are shown. Then, the minimum detectable hydrogen column density of SKA for gas clouds at high redhsift is calculated and after that the basic principles of spectroscopy and the requirements of the HiReS instrument of E-ELT are demonstrated. Finally, suggestions about where the observations with HiReS should focus are made.

We present axisymmetric hydrodynamical simulations of the long-term accretion of a rotating gamma-ray burst progenitor star, a "collapsar," onto the central compact object, which we take to be a black hole. The simulations were carried out with the adaptive mesh refinement code FLASH in two spatial dimensions and with an explicit shear viscosity. The evolution of the central accretion rate exhibits phases reminiscent of the long GRB [gamma]-ray and X-ray light curve, which lends support to the proposal by Kumar et al. (2008a,b) that the luminosity is modulated by the central accretion rate. In the first "prompt" phase, the black hole acquires most of its final mass through supersonic quasiradial accretion occurring at a steady rate of [scientific symbols]. After a few tens of seconds, an accretion shock sweeps outward through the star. The formation and outward expansion of the accretion shock is accompanied with a sudden and rapid power-law decline in the central accretion rate Ṁ [proportional to] t⁻²̇⁸, which resembles the L[subscript x] [proportional to] t⁻³ decline observed in the X-ray light curves. The collapsed, shock-heated stellar envelope settles into a thick, low-mass equatorial disk embedded within a massive, pressure-supported atmosphere. After a few hundred seconds, the inflow of low-angular-momentum material in the axial funnel reverses into an outflow from the thick disk. Meanwhile, the rapid decline of the accretion rate slows down, which is potentially suggestive of the "plateau" phase in the X-ray light curve. We complement our adiabatic simulations with an analytical model that takes into account the cooling by neutrino emission and estimate that the duration of the prompt phase can be ~ 20 s. The model suggests that the steep decline in GRB X-ray light curves is triggered by the circularization of the infalling stellar envelope at radii where the virial temperature is below 10¹⁰ K, such that neutrino cooling is inefficient and an outward expansion of the accretion shock becomes imminent; GRBs with longer prompt [gamma]-ray emission should have more slowly rotating envelopes. / text

<p>Type Ia supernovae can be used as distance indicators for probing the expansion history of the Universe. The method has proved to be an efficient tool in cosmology and played a decisive role in the discovery of a yet unknown energy form, dark energy, that drives the accelerated expansion of the Universe. The work in this thesis addresses the nature of dark energy, both by presenting existing data, and by predicting opportunities and difficulties related to possible future data.</p><p>Optical and infrared measurements of type Ia supernovae for different epochs in the cosmic expansion history are presented along with a discussion of the systematic errors. The data have been obtained with several instruments, and an optimal method for measuring the lightcurve of a background contaminated source has been used. The procedure was also tested by applying it on simulated images.</p><p>The future of supernova cosmology, and the target precision of cosmological parameters for the proposed SNAP satellite are discussed. In particular, the limits that can be set on various dark energy scenarios are investigated. The possibility of distinguishing between different inverse power-law quintessence models is also studied. The predictions are based on calculations made with the Supernova Observation Calculator, a software package, introduced in the thesis, for simulating the light propagation from distant objects. This tool has also been used for investigating how SNAP observations could be biased by gravitational lensing, and to what extent this would affect cosmology fitting. An alternative approach for estimating cosmological parameters, where lensing effects are taken into account, is also suggested. Finally, it is investigated to what extent strongly lensed core-collapse supernovae could be used as an alternative approach for determining cosmological parameters.</p>

We present multi-epoch mid-infrared (IR) photometry and the optical discovery observations of the "impostor" supernova (SN) 2010da in NGC. 300 using new and archival Spitzer Space Telescope images and ground-based observatories. The mid-infrared counterpart of SN. 2010da was detected as Spitzer Infrared Intensive Transient Survey (SPIRITS). 14bme in the SPIRITS, an ongoing systematic search for IR transients. Before erupting on 2010 May 24, the SN. 2010da progenitor exhibited a constant mid-IR flux at 3.6 and only a slight similar to 10% decrease at 4.5 mu m between 2003 November and 2007 December. A sharp increase in the 3.6 mu m flux followed by a rapid decrease measured similar to 150 days before and similar to 80 days after the initial outburst, respectively, reveal a mid-IR counterpart to the coincident optical and high luminosity X-ray outbursts. At late times, after the outburst (similar to 2000 days), the 3.6 and 4.5 mu m emission increased to over a factor of two. times the progenitor flux and is currently observed (as of 2016 Feb) to be fading, but still above the progenitor flux. We attribute the re-brightening mid-IR emission to continued dust production and increasing luminosity of the surviving system associated with SN. 2010da. We analyze the evolution of the dust temperature (T-d similar to 700-1000 K), mass (Md similar to 0.5-3.8 x. 10(-7) M circle dot), luminosity (L-IR similar to 1.3-3.5 x 10(4) L circle dot), and the equilibrium temperature radius (R-eq similar to 6.4-12.2 au) in order to resolve the nature of SN. 2010da. We address the leading interpretation of SN. 2010da as an eruption from a luminous blue variable high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) system. We propose that SN. 2010da is instead a supergiant (sg)B[e]-HMXB based on similar luminosities and dust masses exhibited by two other known sgB[e]-HMXB systems. Additionally, the SN. 2010da progenitor occupies a similar region on a mid-IR color-magnitude diagram (CMD) with known sgB[e] stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The lower limit estimated for the orbital eccentricity of the sgB[e]-HMXB (e > 0.82) from X-ray luminosity measurements is high compared to known sgHMXBs and supports the claim that SN. 2010da may be associated with a newly formed HMXB system.

We present an ongoing, five-year systematic search for extragalactic infrared transients, dubbed SPIRITS-SPitzer InfraRed Intensive Transients Survey. In the first year, using Spitzer/IRAC, we searched 190 nearby galaxies with cadence baselines of one month and six months. We discovered over 1958 variables and 43 transients. Here, we describe the survey design and highlight 14 unusual infrared transients with no optical counterparts to deep limits, which we refer to as SPRITEs (eSPecially Red Intermediate-luminosity Transient Events). SPRITEs are in the infrared luminosity gap between novae and supernovae, with [4.5] absolute magnitudes between -11 and -14 (Vega-mag) and [3.6]-[4.5] colors between 0.3 mag and 1.6 mag. The photometric evolution of SPRITEs is diverse, ranging from < 0.1 mag yr(-1) to > 7 mag yr(-1). SPRITEs occur in star-forming galaxies. We present an indepth study of one of them, SPIRITS 14ajc in Messier 83, which shows shock-excited molecular hydrogen emission. This shock may have been triggered by the dynamic decay of a non-hierarchical system of massive stars that led to either the formation of a binary or a protostellar merger.