Nesta dissertação estudamos como os efeitos das inomogeneidades da matéria (escura e bariônica) modificam as distâncias e afetam a determinação dos parâmetros cosmológicos. As inomogeneidades são fenomenologicamente descritas pelo parâmetro de aglomeramento alpha e quantificadas pela equação da distância proposta por ZeldovichKantowskiDyer Roeder (ZKDR). Além disso, utilizando amostras de Supernovas e Gamma-Ray Bursts, aplicamos um teste chi quadrado para vincular os parâmetros de dois modelos cosmológicos distintos, a saber: o modelo LambdaCDM plano e o modelo com criação de matéria escura fria. Para o modelo LambdaCDM plano, vinculamos os parâmetros alpha e ­OmegaM considerando um prior gaussiano para a constante de Hubble. Realizamos também uma análise detalhada envolvendo duas calibrações distintas associadas aos dados de Gamma-Ray Bursts: uma calibração para o modelo LambdaCDM plano e outra para o modelo cardassiano. Verificamos que os resultados são fracamente dependentes da calibração adotada. Uma análise conjunta envolvendo Supernovas e Gamma-Ray Bursts permitiu quebrar a degenerescência entre o parâmetro de aglomeramento alpha e o parâmetro de densidade da matéria ­OmegaM. Considerando a calibração dos Gamma-Ray Bursts para o modelo LambdaCDM plano, o melhor ajuste obtido foi alpha = 1.0 e ­OmegaM = 0.30, com os parâmetros restritos ao intervalos 0.78 < alpha < · 1.0 e 0.26 < ­OmegaM < 0.36 (2sigma). Para o modelo com criação de matéria escura consideramos também um prior gaussiano para a constante de Hubble e as amostras de Supernovas e Gamma-Ray Bursts (calibrados para o modelo LambdaCDM plano). A degenerescência entre o parâmetro alpha e o parâmetro de criação gamma foi novamente quebrada através de uma análise conjunta das 2 amostras de dados. Para o melhor ajuste obtivemos alpha = 1.0 e gamma = 0.61, com os parâmetros restritos aos intervalos 0.85 < alpha < 1.0 e 0.56 < gamma < 0.66 (2sigma). / In this dissertation we study how the effects of matter (baryonic and dark) inhomogeneities modify the distances thereby affecting the determination of cosmological parameters. The inhomogeneities are phenomenologically described by the clumpiness parameter alpha and quantified through the equation distance proposed by ZeldovichKantowskiDyer Roeder (ZKDR). Further, by using Supernovae and Gamma-Ray Bursts separately, a chi-squared analysis was performed to constrain the parameter space for two distinct cosmological models, namely: the flat LambdaCDM model and the cold dark matter creation model. For the flat LambdaCDM model we have constrained the parameters alpha and ­OmegaM by considering a Gaussian prior for the Hubble parameter. A detailed analysis was also performed involving two different calibrations associated to the Gamma-Ray Bursts data: a calibration for the flat LambdaCDM model as well as for the cardassian model. We have verified that the results are weakly dependent on the adopted calibration. A joint analysis involving Supernovae and Gamma-Ray Bursts allowed us to break the degenerescence between the clumpiness parameter alpha and the matter density parameter ­OmegaM. By considering the calibration for the flat LambdaCDM model, the best fits obtained were equal to alpha = 1.0 and ­OmegaM = 0.30 with the parameters restricted on the intervals 0.78 < alpha < 1.0 and 0.26 < ­OmegaM < 0.36 (2sigma). For the dark matter creation model we have also adopted a Gaussian prior for the Hubble constant and the Supernovae and Gamma-Ray Bursts (calibrated for the flat LambdaCDM model) samples. The degenerescence between the clumpiness parameter alpha and the creation parameter gamma was again broken trough a joint analysis of the two data sample. For the best fits we have obtained alpha = 1.0 and gamma = 0.61 with the parameters restricted on the intervals 0.85 < alpha < 1.0 and 0.56 < gamma < 0.66 (2sigma).

Nesta dissertação estudamos como os efeitos das inomogeneidades da matéria (escura e bariônica) modificam as distâncias e afetam a determinação dos parâmetros cosmológicos. As inomogeneidades são fenomenologicamente descritas pelo parâmetro de aglomeramento alpha e quantificadas pela equação da distância proposta por ZeldovichKantowskiDyer Roeder (ZKDR). Além disso, utilizando amostras de Supernovas e Gamma-Ray Bursts, aplicamos um teste chi quadrado para vincular os parâmetros de dois modelos cosmológicos distintos, a saber: o modelo LambdaCDM plano e o modelo com criação de matéria escura fria. Para o modelo LambdaCDM plano, vinculamos os parâmetros alpha e ­OmegaM considerando um prior gaussiano para a constante de Hubble. Realizamos também uma análise detalhada envolvendo duas calibrações distintas associadas aos dados de Gamma-Ray Bursts: uma calibração para o modelo LambdaCDM plano e outra para o modelo cardassiano. Verificamos que os resultados são fracamente dependentes da calibração adotada. Uma análise conjunta envolvendo Supernovas e Gamma-Ray Bursts permitiu quebrar a degenerescência entre o parâmetro de aglomeramento alpha e o parâmetro de densidade da matéria ­OmegaM. Considerando a calibração dos Gamma-Ray Bursts para o modelo LambdaCDM plano, o melhor ajuste obtido foi alpha = 1.0 e ­OmegaM = 0.30, com os parâmetros restritos ao intervalos 0.78 < alpha < · 1.0 e 0.26 < ­OmegaM < 0.36 (2sigma). Para o modelo com criação de matéria escura consideramos também um prior gaussiano para a constante de Hubble e as amostras de Supernovas e Gamma-Ray Bursts (calibrados para o modelo LambdaCDM plano). A degenerescência entre o parâmetro alpha e o parâmetro de criação gamma foi novamente quebrada através de uma análise conjunta das 2 amostras de dados. Para o melhor ajuste obtivemos alpha = 1.0 e gamma = 0.61, com os parâmetros restritos aos intervalos 0.85 < alpha < 1.0 e 0.56 < gamma < 0.66 (2sigma). / In this dissertation we study how the effects of matter (baryonic and dark) inhomogeneities modify the distances thereby affecting the determination of cosmological parameters. The inhomogeneities are phenomenologically described by the clumpiness parameter alpha and quantified through the equation distance proposed by ZeldovichKantowskiDyer Roeder (ZKDR). Further, by using Supernovae and Gamma-Ray Bursts separately, a chi-squared analysis was performed to constrain the parameter space for two distinct cosmological models, namely: the flat LambdaCDM model and the cold dark matter creation model. For the flat LambdaCDM model we have constrained the parameters alpha and ­OmegaM by considering a Gaussian prior for the Hubble parameter. A detailed analysis was also performed involving two different calibrations associated to the Gamma-Ray Bursts data: a calibration for the flat LambdaCDM model as well as for the cardassian model. We have verified that the results are weakly dependent on the adopted calibration. A joint analysis involving Supernovae and Gamma-Ray Bursts allowed us to break the degenerescence between the clumpiness parameter alpha and the matter density parameter ­OmegaM. By considering the calibration for the flat LambdaCDM model, the best fits obtained were equal to alpha = 1.0 and ­OmegaM = 0.30 with the parameters restricted on the intervals 0.78 < alpha < 1.0 and 0.26 < ­OmegaM < 0.36 (2sigma). For the dark matter creation model we have also adopted a Gaussian prior for the Hubble constant and the Supernovae and Gamma-Ray Bursts (calibrated for the flat LambdaCDM model) samples. The degenerescence between the clumpiness parameter alpha and the creation parameter gamma was again broken trough a joint analysis of the two data sample. For the best fits we have obtained alpha = 1.0 and gamma = 0.61 with the parameters restricted on the intervals 0.85 < alpha < 1.0 and 0.56 < gamma < 0.66 (2sigma).

[Truncated abstract] As gravitational wave detectors approach sensitivities that will allow observations to become routine, astrophysics lies on the cusp of an exciting new era. Potential sources will include transients such as merging neutron stars and black holes, supernova explosions or the engines that power gamma-ray bursts. This thesis will be devoted to the astrophysical gravitational wave background signal produced by cosmological populations of such transient signals. Particular attention will be devoted to the observation-time dependence imposed on the individual sources that accumulate to produce a gravitational wave background signal. The ultimate aim is to determine what information is encoded in the temporal evolution of such a signal. To lay the foundations for further investigation, the stochastic gravitational wave background signal from neutron star birth throughout the Universe has been calculated. In view of the uncertainties in both the single-source emissions and source rate histories, several models of each are employed. The results show that that the resulting signals are only weakly dependent on the source-rate evolution model and that prominent features in the single-source spectra can be related to the background spectra. In comparison with previous studies, the use of relativistic single-source gravitational wave waveforms rather than Newtonian models and a more slowly evolving source-rate density results in a 1 { 2 order of magnitude reduction in signal. ... A comparison with the more commonly used brightness distribution of events shows that when applying both methods to a data stream containing a background of Gaussian distributed false alarms, the brightness distribution yielded lower standard errors, but was biased by the false alarms. In comparison, a fitting procedure based on the time evolution of events was less prone to errors resulting from false alarms, but as fewer events contributed to the data, had a lower resolution. In further support of the time dependent signature of transient events, an alternative technique is fiapplied to the same source population. In this case, the local rate density is probed by measuring the statistical compatibility of the filtered data against synthetic time dependent data. Although this method is not as compact as the fitting procedure, the rate estimates are compatible. To further investigate how the observation time dependence of transient populations can be used to constrain global parameters, the method is applied to Swift long gamma-ray burst data. By considering a distribution in peak °ux rather than a gravitational wave amplitude, gamma-ray bursts can be considered as a surrogate for resolved gravitational wave transients. For this application a peak °ux{observation time relation is described that takes the form of a power law that is invariant to the luminosity distribution of the sources. Additionally, the method is enhanced by invoking time reversal invariance and the temporal cosmological principle. Results are presented to show that the peak °ux{observation time relation is in good agreement with recent estimates of source parameters. Additionally, to show that the intrinsic time dependence allows the method to be used as a predictive tool, projections are made to determine the upper limits in peak °ux of future gamma-ray burst detections for Swift.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Physics / Master / Master of Philosophy

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

Les sursauts gamma sont des sources astrophysiques parmi les plus brillantes du ciel. Dans le modèle standard actuel, leur émission prompte (X et gamma) est due à des particules chargées accélérées au sein de jets relativistes émis à la formation de trous noirs de masses stellaire. L'émission rémanente observée de la radio aux X serait due à l'interaction de ces jets avec le milieu interstellaire. Le LAT, détecteur à création de paire du télescope spatial Fermi, permet depuis juin 2008 l'étude du ciel gamma de 20 MeV à plus de 300 GeV avec des performances inégalées. Le GBM, détecteur de sources transitoires de Fermi (8 keV à 40 MeV) a observé ~450 sursauts gamma, dont ~18 ont été observés jusqu'au domaine du GeV. Une localisation précise de ces sursauts et la synergie de Fermi avec les autres observatoires permettent l'étude des rémanences associées et une meilleure interprétation des observations. L'étude de sursauts gamma de 8 keV au domaine du GeV est présentée. Les localisations obtenues avec le LAT sont étudiées ainsi que leurs erreurs. Des analyses spectrales des émissions promptes combinant les données du GBM et du LAT sont exposées, ainsi que leur interprétation. Une analyse alternative basée sur une sélection relâchée des données LAT est présentée et caractérisée. L'utilisation des événements d'énergies inférieures à 100 MeV améliore l'analyse temporelle et spectrale des émissions promptes. La recherche d'émission gamma prolongée est présentée, ainsi que l'étude de l'émission rémanente de GRB 090510 observé des UV au GeV par Fermi et Swift. Enfin, un modèle d'émission prompte par les chocs internes, développé à l'IAP, est comparé aux observations de Fermi. / Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRB) are among the brightest gamma-ray sources in the sky. The current standard framework associates their prompt gamma-ray emission to charged particles accelerated in relativistic jets issued by newly-formed stellar-mass black holes. The radio to X-ray afterglow emission is due to the interaction between these jets and the interstellar medium.The LAT, pair-creation instrument onboard Fermi gamma-ray space telescope, performs unprecedented observation of the gamma-ray sky at energies of 20 MeV to over 300 GeV since its launch in june 2008. Fermi's transient sources detector, GBM, observed prompt emissions of ~450 GRB between 8 keV and 40 MeV. ~18 of these GRB were also studied up to GeV energies with the LAT. Accurate GRB localizations and Fermi's synergy with other observatories allows the study of GRB afterglows, and therefore a better interpretation of these observations.The analyses of GRB emissions between 8 keV to GeV energies is presented here. Localizations based on LAT data and their biases are studied. Spectral analyses of combined GBM and LAT data are shown, and their theoretical interpretations explained.An alternative analysis based on a relaxed selection of LAT data is presented and fully characterized. It allows to recover and use low-energy LAT statistics in temporal and spectral analyses of GRB prompt emission.Searches for long-lived high-energy emission from GRB are presented. The analysis of GRB 090510 afterglow emission from eV to GeV energies is described.Finally, Fermi bright GRB prompt emissions are compared to an internal shock model developed at IAP.

Les expériences d’astroparticules n’ont cessé de fleurir ces dix dernières années dans le but de connaître l’origine des rayons cosmiques et les procédés mis en œuvre dans leur accélération à des ultra-hautes énergies. Les télescopes Cherenkov tels que ANTARES détectent la lumière Cherenkov issue des muons se propageant dans l’eau de mer méditerranée. Les muons sont les produits d’interaction de neutrinos cosmiques (signal) ou atmosphériques (bruit) avec les noyaux de la terre. Pour offrir les meilleures conditions de détection de la lumière Cherenkov, et par conséquent bien reconstruire les traces des muons détectés, les détecteurs de lumière i.e les photomultiplicateurs doivent satisfaire plusieurs conditions. Le premier volet de cette thèse porte sur le développement de photomultiplicateurs utilisant le cristal comme préamplificateur de signal optique. L’avantage d’un tel procédé est la possibilité de séparer plusieurs pics photo-électrons et d’améliorer la résolution tem- porelle gra&#770;ce à un fort champ électrique. La conception d’un tel prototype et la possibilité de son industrialisation à grande échelle sont développés pour la première fois dans cette thèse. Le deuxième volet s’inscrit dans la nouvelle thématique multi-messagers d’ANTARES.Un suivi avec six télescopes optiques répartis sur chaque hémisphère est déclenché lorsque ANTARES détecte un neutrino de haute énergie ou un ensemble de neutrinos coïncidents en temps et en direction. Un tel système permet d’augmenter la sensibilité de détection de neutrinos provenant de sources transitoires tels que les sursauts gamma et les Supernovæ à effondrement de cœur. Un système d’alertes neutrino est maintenant implémenté et fonctionne continument et de manière autonome sur ANTARES. Le système offre de bonnes performances; le suivi optique se déclenche dans la minute suivant la détection neutrino et l’incertitude sur la reconstruction de la trajectoire du neutrino est de 0.4&#9702; (valeur médiane). Une fois l’alerte reu çe par un des télescopes, celui-ci se repositionne sur la direction du neutrino et entame une série d’observations réparties sur le mois suivant l’alerte. Cette thèse a porté dans un premier temps sur l’aspect neutrino en développant le filtre sélectionnant les évènements haute énergie et multi-neutrinos. Des outils d’analyse d’images optiques ont ensuite été implémentés pour la recherche de sources transitoires. Les premiers résultats de recherche de contreparties optiques de sursauts gamma en corrélation avec un signal neutrino sont présentés. / Astroparticle experiments are being developed with the aim of resolving the mystery of cosmic rays. Questions like from where cosmic rays originate or how do they get accelerated up to ultra high energies are still unresolved. Cherenkov telescopes like ANTARES detect the Cherenkov light emitted by muons propagating in the sea water. Muons are produced by the interaction of cosmic neutrinos (signal) or atmospheric neutrinos (noise) with the Earth nuclei.In order to offer the best detection conditions of Cherenkov light, and subsequently ensure a good reconstruction quality of the muons trajectory, the light sensors i.e the photomultipliers must satisfy various conditions.The first part of this thesis focuses on the development of photomultipliers using crystals as a preamplifier of the light signal. The advantage of such a method is the possibility to separate individual photo-electrons and to enhance the temporal resolution by applying a high electric field.The design and conception as well as the possibility to produce such devices at large industrial scales is for the first time developed in this thesis.The second part of the thesis is inspired from the new multi-messenger approach in ANTARES. An optical follow-up with six telescopes spread over the two hemispheres is triggered by the detection of a high energy neutrino or a set of neutrinos coincident in time and direction. Such a system enhances the sensitivity to transient sources such as Gamma Rays Bursts (GRB) or Core Collapse Supernovae. The neutrino alert system is now fully operational. The system offers good performances; the optical follow-up starts within one minute from the neutrino detection and the median angular accuracy of the reconstructed neutrinos is 0.4$^circ$.Upon the reception of an alert, the telescopes point at the neutrino direction and start the acquisition of image series almost each night of the month following the neutrino alert. Image analysis tools have been implemented to search for optical transients; First results on the search of GRB optical counterparts correlated with a neutrino signal are presented.

Cette thèse présente les résultats de la recherche de signaux impulsionnels d’ondes gravitationnelles associés aux sursauts gamma dans les données 2009-2010 des interféromètres LIGO-Virgo. L’étude approfondie des mécanismesd’émission d’ondes gravitationnelles par les progéniteurs de sursauts gamma, ainsi que des mécanismes d’émission de rayons gamma eux-mêmes, permet de déterminer les caractéristiques essentielles du signal à détecter : polarisation, délai temporel, etc ... Cette connaissance de l’émission conjointe permet alors de construire une méthode d’analyse qui inclut les a priori astrophysiques. Cette méthode est de plus robuste vis-à-vis des bruits transitoires présents dans les données. L’absence de détection nous permet de placer des limites observationnelles inédites sur la population des sursauts gamma. / In this thesis we present the results of the search for gravitational wave bursts associated with gamma-ray bursts in the 2009-2010 data from the LIGOVirgo gravitational wave interferometer network. The study of gamma-ray bursts progenitors, both from the gamma-ray emission and the gravitational wave emission point of view, yields the characteristic of the sought signal: polarization, time delays, etc ... This knowledge allows the construction of a data analysis method which includes the astrophysical priors on joint gravitational wave and gamma-ray emission, and moreover which is robust to non-stationary transient noises, which are present in the data. The lack of detection in the analyzed data yields novel observational limits on the gamma-ray burst population.

Ultraluminous X-ray (ULX) sources are non-nuclear extragalactic accreting compact objects whose X-ray luminosities exceed the Eddington limit for stellar mass black hole binaries (BHB). Their high luminosities suggest they are either intermediate mass black holes, that their emission is beamed, or that they are emitting at super-Eddington rates. We observed the ULX IC 342 X-1 simultaneously in X-ray and radio with Chandra and the VLA to investigate previously reported unresolved radio emission coincident with the ULX. The Chandra spectrum appears to be consistent with an accretion disc-dominated thermal state and suggests a mass of the black hole using the modeled inner disc temperature to be 157Mʘ ≤ M √ (cosi) ≤ 200 Mʘ. No significant radio emission was observed, consistent with the source being in a thermal disc-dominated state. Reanalysis of previous X-ray observations of the source shows that high energy curvature often interpreted as evidence for supercritical accretion cannot confidently be identified using the 2-10 keV energy band. Black hole systems such as BHBs, ULXs, and AGN represent the greatest test labs in the universe for the study of extreme gravity. Emission from the accretion disk and scattering from the surrounding corona allow study of the ultra-strong gravity and magnetic fields very near the central BH engine. However, many of these effects are imprinted as polarization of the emission and are invisible to spectral and timing studies alone. The outflows from AGN are also thought to play a key role in galaxy shaping and cluster formation. High efficiency and spectral resolution are required to measure ionization-velocities and density parameters from these sources to constrain the outflow structure. Beamline studies and theoretical modeling were carried out to characterize the throughput and spectral resolving power of off-plane gratings for use in future x-ray observatories which will make these measurements. Additionally, synchrotron measurements were carried out to test theoretical predictions of strong polarization response for off-plane diffraction gratings. The empirical results of this study are the first to demonstrate a lack of polarization sensitivity for grazing-incidence off-plane gratings and support more complex modeling results than used previously.

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory has reported the observation of 35 neutrino events above 30 TeV with evidence for an astrophysical neutrino flux using data collected from May 2010 to May 2013. These events provide the first high-energy astrophysical neutrino flux ever observed. The sources of these events are currently unknown. IceCube has looked for correlations between these events and a list of TeV photon sources including a catalog of 36 galactic sources and 42 extragalactic sources, correlations with the galactic plane and center, and spatial and temporal clustering. These searches have shown no significant correlations. The isotropic distribution of the event directions gives indications that the events could be extragalactic in nature and therefore may originate in the same processes that generate ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). The sources of these UHECRs are still unknown; however, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been proposed as one possible source class. By determining the source of these high-energy neutrinos, it may be possible to determine the sources of UHECRs as well. This study is a search for directional and temporal correlation between 856 GRBs and the astrophysical neutrino flux observed by IceCube. Nearly 10,000 expanding time windows centered on the earliest reported time of the burst were examined. The time windows start at ±10 s and extend to ±15 days. We find no evidence of correlations for these time windows and set an upper limit on the fraction of the astrophysical flux that can be attributed to the observed GRBs as a function of the time window. GRBs can contribute at most 12% of the astrophysical neutrino flux if the neutrino-GRB correlation time is less than ≈20 hours, and no more than 38% of the astrophysical neutrino flux can be attributed to the known GRBs at time scales up to 15 days. We conclude that GRBs observable by satellites are not solely responsible for IceCube’s astrophysical neutrino flux, even if very long correlation time scales are assumed.