Dark matter has been shown to be extremely abundant in our universe. It comprises about 23 percent of the energy density of the entire universe, which is more than five times greater than the regular matter we already know about. Dark matter cannot be explained within the Standard Model of particle physics. However, models which extend the Standard Model, such as supersymmetry, can explain dark matter. This dissertation investigates the signals of some supersymmetry models in the context of collider physics. If dark matter particles or other supersymmetry particles are produced at some collider experiment, such as the Large Hadron Collider, it is important to know how we can find and measure the signatures and properties of these particles. This dissertation provides some measurement techniques for that exact purpose. These measurement techniques are also very general, making them useful for examining other models of particle physics as well. Lastly, if the supersymmetry model can be understood well enough from collider data, the connection back to cosmology can be made. Namely, it is possible to determine (from LHC data and using a standard cosmological calculation) the abundance of dark matter in the universe. Comparing this collider value with the value already measured will be a crucial step in understanding dark matter. This dissertation provides simulated results of this dark matter abundance calculation for a number of supersymmetry model points.

In this thesis, after a general introduction, we first review some differential geometry to provide the mathematical background needed to derive the key equations in cosmology. Then we consider the Robertson-Walker geometry and its relationship to cosmography, i.e., how one makes measurements in cosmology. We finally connect the Robertson-Walker geometry to Einstein's field equation to obtain so-called cosmological Friedmann-Lemaître models. These models are subsequently studied by means of potential diagrams.

Type Ia supernovae can, for a short period of time, reach the same brightness as an entire galaxy. They are responsible for the creation of a large fraction of all heavy elements and can be used, as standard candles, to prove that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. Yet, we do not fully understand them. A basic picture where Type Ia supernovae are caused by thermonuclear explosions of white dwarfs is generally accepted, but the details are still debated. These unknowns propagate into systematic uncertainties in the estimates of cosmological parameters. A Monte Carlo framework, SMOCK, designed to model this error propagation, is presented. Evolution with time/distance and the nature of reddening are studied as the dominant astrophysical uncertainties. Optical spectra of Type Ia supernovae contain a wealth of information regarding the nature of these events, and can be used both to understand supernovae and to limit the systematic uncertainties in cosmological parameter estimates. We have reduced spectra observed with the Nordic Optical Telescope and the New Technology Telescope in conjunction with the SDSS-II supernova survey, and compared spectral properties (pseudo-Equivalent Widths and line velocities) of this sample with local supernovae.We have further studied possible systematic difficulties in such comparisons between nearby and distant supernovae, caused by noise and host galaxy contamination.Taking such uncertainties into account, we find a tentative evolution in supernova properties with redshift, compatible with expected demographic changes. Correlations with light curve shape found by other studies are confirmed. A tentative correlation with light curve colour is also presented. The latter could indicate an intrinsic component of the observed reddening, i.e. independent of interstellar dust in the host galaxy. / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 4: Accepted.

The main goal of this thesis is to present cosmological perturbation theory (based on the standard Friedmann cosmological model) in volume-preserving coordinates, which then provides a suitable basis for studies in cosmological averaging. We review perturbation theory to second order, allowing for averaging to second order in future research. To solve the averaging problem we need a method of covariantly and gauge invariantly averaging tensorial objects on a background manifold. This is a very difficult problem. However, the definition of an average takes on a particularly simple form when written in a system of volume-preserving coordinates. Therefore, we develop a three dimensional and a four dimensional volume-preserving coordinate gauge in this thesis that can be used for averaging in cosmological perturbation theory.

The construction of the James Webb Space Telescope has brought attention to infrared astronomy and cosmology. The potential information about our universe to be gained by this mission and future infrared telescopes is staggering, but infrared observation faces many obstacles. These telescopes face large amounts of noise by many phenomena, from emission off of the mirrors to the cosmic infrared background. Infrared telescopes need to be designed in such a way that noise is minimized to achieve sufficient signal to noise ratio on high redshift objects. We will investigate current and planned space and ground based telescopes, model the noise they encounter, and discover their limitations. The ultimate goal of our investigation is to compare the sensitivity of these missions in the near and mid IR and to propose new missions. Our investigation is broken down into four major sections: current missions, noise, signal, and proposed missions. In the proposed missions section we investigate historical and current infrared telescopes with attention given to their location and properties. The noise section discusses the noise that an infrared telescope will encounter and set the background limit. The signal section will look at the spectral energy distributions (SED) of a few significant objects in our universe. We will calculate the intensity of the objects at various points on Earth and in orbit. In the final section we use our findings in the signal and noise sections to model integration times (observation time) for a variety of missions to achieve a given signal to noise ratio (SNR).

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Mainz, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis deals with the relation of Hellenic philosophy to evolutionary biology. The first part entails an explication of Hellenic cosmology and metaphysics in its traditional understanding, as the Western component of classical Indo-European philosophy. It includes an overview of the relevant contributions by the Presocratics, Plato, Aristotle, and the Neoplatonists, focusing on the structure and origin of both the intelligible and sensible worlds. Salient aspects thereof are the movement from the transcendent Principle into the realm of Manifestation by means of the interaction between Essence and Substance; the role of the Logos, being the equivalent of Plato’s Demiurge and Aristotle’s Prime Mover, in the cosmogonic process; the interaction between Intellect and Necessity in the formation of the cosmos; the various kinds of causality contributing to the establishment of physical reality; and the priority of being over becoming, which in the case of living organisms entails the primacy of soul over body. The first part of the thesis concludes with a discussion of the implications of Hellenic cosmology and metaphysics for evolutionary biology, including an affirmation of final and formal causality over and against its rejection by the modern scientific project. The second part commences with a delineation of organic form and transformation, emphasizing the mathematical foundations thereof. It continues with a critical consideration of the modern evolutionary theory on both scientific and philosophical grounds. In the process a fundamental distinction is made between micro- and macro-evolution, involving the reshuffling of existing genetic material which is acted upon by natural selection, and the production of new genetic material by means of macro-mutations, respectively. In the remainder of the thesis the macro-evolutionary process is described as mainly lawful, directed and convergent, instead of contingent, undirected and divergent as postulated in the modern evolutionary synthesis. This approach does not preclude the recognition of exceptions, due to the limitation of Intellect by Necessity – that is to say, of teleology by mechanism. / Religious Studies and Arabic / D.Litt. et Phil. (Religious Studies)

Submitted by Vasti Diniz (vastijpa@hotmail.com) on 2017-09-13T13:50:59Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 2320909 bytes, checksum: 25cc6b6504385f6f69412717c2952be1 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-13T13:50:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 2320909 bytes, checksum: 25cc6b6504385f6f69412717c2952be1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-07-29 / We considered the discrete approach to Newtonian cosmology presented by Ellis and Gibbons in a recent paper, and generalize this to the continuum limit. The results are obtained using the Newton's laws for particles interacting gravitationally, which are moving homothetically, with with their comoving positions constituting a central configuration. It requines no use of the fluid mechanics, but just a correspondence between the quantities which appear in the approach of Ellis and Gibbons and their generalizations for a system with high density, but with a finite number of particles. The solutions of the equation for the scale factor are presented, taking into account the presence of a term associated with the cosmological cons­tant. We briefly present the relativistic cosmology and compare with Newtonian cosmology. / Consideramos a formulagao discreta da cosmologia Newtoniana adotada por Ellis e Gibbons, em artigo recente, e fazemos uma generalizagao para o limite do continuo. Os resultados sao obtidos com o use das leis de Newton para particulas que interagem gravitacionalmente, que se movem homoteticamente, com suas coordenadas comOveis constituindo-se uma con­figuragao central. Nao foi necessario o use da mecanica dos fluidos, mas tao somente, uma correspondencia direta entre as grandezas discretas da formulagao de Ellis e Gibbons e suas generalizagoes para um sistema muito denso, com um nilmero finito de particulas. Sao apresentadas solugoes da equagao para o fator de escala, considerando a presenga do termo associado a constante cosmolOgica. E feita uma breve apresentagao da cosmologia Einstei­niana e uma comparagao com a cosmologia Newtoniana.

A previous analysis of starburst-dominated HII galaxies and HII regions has demonstrated a statistically significant preference for the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmology with zero active mass, known as the R-h = c(t) universe, over Lambda cold dark matter (Lambda CDM) and its related dark-matter parametrizations. In this paper, we employ a two-point diagnostic with these data to present a complementary statistical comparison of Rh = ct with Planck Lambda CDM. Our two-point diagnostic compares, in a pairwise fashion, the difference between the distance modulus measured at two redshifts with that predicted by each cosmology. Our results support the conclusion drawn by a previous comparative analysis demonstrating that Rh = ct is statistically preferred over Planck Lambda CDM. But we also find that the reported errors in the HII measurements may not be purely Gaussian, perhaps due to a partial contamination by non-Gaussian systematic effects. The use of HII galaxies and HII regions as standard candles may be improved even further with a better handling of the systematics in these sources.

Quasars at high redshift provide direct information on the mass growth of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and, in turn, yield important clues about how the universe evolved since the first (Pop III) stars started forming. Yet even basic questions regarding the seeds of these objects and their growth mechanism remain unanswered. The anticipated launch of eROSITA and ATHENA is expected to facilitate observations of high-redshift quasars needed to resolve these issues. In this paper, we compare accretion-based SMBH growth in the concordance Lambda CDM model with that in the alternative Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmology known as the R-h = ct universe. Previous work has shown that the timeline predicted by the latter can account for the origin and growth of the greater than or similar to 10(9) M-circle dot highest redshift quasars better than that of the standard model. Here, we significantly advance this comparison by determining the soft X-ray flux that would be observed for Eddington-limited accretion growth as a function of redshift in both cosmologies. Our results indicate that a clear difference emerges between the two in terms of the number of detectable quasars at redshift z greater than or similar to 7, raising the expectation that the next decade will provide the observational data needed to discriminate between these two models based on the number of detected high-redshift quasar progenitors. For example, while the upcoming ATHENA mission is expected to detect similar to 0.16 (i.e., essentially zero) quasars at z similar to 7 in R-h = ct, it should detect similar to 160 in Lambda CDM-a quantitatively compelling difference.