When molecules are excited by photons or energetic particles, they will cool through the emission of photons, electrons, or by fragmenting. Such processes are often thermal as they occur after the excitation energy has been redistributed across all degrees-of-freedom in the system. Collisions with atoms or ions may also lead to ultrafast fragmentation in Rutherford-like scattering processes, where one or several atoms can literally be knocked out of the molecule by the incoming projectile before the energy can be completely redistributed. The resulting fragmentation pathways can in such knockout processes be very different from those in thermal processes. This thesis covers extensive studies of collisions between ions/atoms and isolated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules, isolated fullerene molecules, or clusters of these. The high stabilities and distinct fragmentation channels make these types of molecules excellent test cases for characterizing knockout-driven fragmentation and the reactions that these processes can lead to. I will present experimental measurements for a wide range of energies and compare them with my own molecular dynamics simulations and quantum chemical calculations. In this thesis, I present an in-depth study of the role of knockout in the energetic processing of molecules and clusters. The competition between knockout and thermally driven fragmentation is discussed in detail. Knockout-driven fragmentation is shown to result in exotic fragments that are far more reactive than the intact parent molecules or fragments from thermal processes. When such reactive species are formed within molecular clusters efficient molecular growth can take place on sub-picosecond timescales. The cluster environments are crucial here because they protect the newly formed molecules by absorbing excess energy. This is a possible pathway for the growth of large PAHs, fullerenes, and similar carbonaceous complexes found in, for instance, the interstellar medium. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Submitted.</p>

Neste trabalho primeiramente estudamos os efeitos na propagação de ondas de Alfvén em plasmas empoeirados encontrados em inúmeros ambientes astrofísicos. A relação de dispersão da onda é modificada apresentando novos mecanismos de amortecimento. Há na literatura dados observacionais que indicam a existência de condições para crescimento de partículas de poeira na base da atmosfera de estrelas gigantes e supergigantes frias. Construímos um modelo de perda de massa para essas estrelas no qual mostramos que um fluxo de ondas de Alfvén, amortecido pela presença de poeira, pode contribuir para a geração de um vento de baixa velocidade e alta taxa de perda de massa, de acordo com as observações. Já no caso de estrelas quentes, mostramos como é possível obter as condições ideais para formação e crescimento destas partículas em um modelo de colisão de ventos em sistemas binários. A partir deste modelo, é possível explicar as altas emissões em raios-X observadas, além do crescimento de grãos no pós-choque. Aplicando a idéia ao sistema binário de eta Carinae, o modelo permite a determinação dos parâmetros orbitais do sistema. A poeira contida nos ventos estelares é então ejetada para o meio interestelar. Através de um cálculo semi-empírico determinamos a importância de cada intervalo de massa estelar, em cada etapa evolutiva, no retorno de material sólido ao MI. Em regiões de formação estelar investigamos como as ondas de Alfvén, amortecidas pela presença de poeira, influenciam a estabilidade de nuvens moleculares. Em oposição às teorias encontradas na literatura, mostramos que uma nuvem molecular anã, suportada apenas por pressão magnética, não pode ser dinamicamente estável. / In this work, we firstly discuss the propagation of Alfvén waves in dusty plasmas found in several astrophysical environments. The wave dispersion relation is modified giving rise to new damping mechanisms. There are in the literature observational data indicating the presence of dust near the surface of cool giant and supergiant stars. We developed a stellar mass loss model where we show that a flux of Alfvén waves, damped by the dust presence,can generate a low velocity and high mass loss rate wind, in agreement with the observations. In the case of hot stars we show how it is possible to obtain the special conditions for dust growth in a wind collision model of massive binary systems. For this model it is possible to explain both, the high X-rays emissions and dust growth at the post-shock phase. Applying the idea to the $eta$ Carinae binary system, the model allows the determination of the system orbital and the stellar wind parameters. The stellar wind´s dust is then ejected to the interstellar medium. In a semi-empirical calculation we showed the importance of each stellar mass, at each evolutionary phase, on the dust feedback of the ISM. For star formation regions, we investigate the role of Alfvén waves, damped by the dust presence, on the stability of the molecular clouds. In spite of the works found in the literature, we showed that a dwarf molecular cloud, magnetically supported only, is unstable.

La dernière génération de récepteurs radio, dotés à la fois d'une grande bande passante et d'une haute résolution, fait de toute observation radio-astronomique une étude spectroscopique. Dans le cas de l'imagerie à grand champ du milieu interstellaire, une telle abondance de données fournit de nouveaux outils de diagnostic, mais pose aussi de nouveaux défis en termes de traitement et d'analyse des données. L'objectif du projet ORION-B est d'observer 5 degrés carrés du nuage moléculaire OB, soit près de la moitité de la surface du nuage, dans toute la bande à 3mm. L'émission de dizaines de traceurs moléculaires à été cartographiée, ce qui inclut CO et ses isotopologues, HCO, HCN, HNC, N$_2$H$^+$, le méthanol, SO, CN...L'accès à des cartes résolues spatialement pour de nombreuse espèces chimiques nous permet d'identifier les meilleurs traceurs de la densité du gaz et de son illumination. Ces cartes ont aussi été soumises à des méthodes d'apprentissage automatique, afin de segmenter le nuage moléculaire en régions caractérisées par une émission moléculaire similaire, et de quantifier les corrélations les plus importantes entre différents traceurs moléculaires, et entre les traceurs et des quantités physiques telles que la densité ou la température des poussières.La grande surface observée, combinée à une haute résolution spatiale et spectrale, permet aussi de caractériser statistiquement la cinématique et la dynamique du gaz. La fraction de quantité de mouvement dans les modes compressifs et solénoïdaux (rotationels) de la turbulence peut être calculée, ce qui montre que le nuage est dominé par des mouvements solenoidaux, tandis que les mouvements compressifs sont concentrés dans deux régions de formation stellaire. Ce résultat est cohérent avec l a très faible efficacité de formation stellaire de ce nuage, et souligne l'importance du forçage compressif pour la formation des étoiles.Les nombreux filaments identifiés dans ce nuage moléculaire ont par ailleurs des densités relativement faibles, et sont très stables vis à vis de l'effondrement gravitationnel. La plupart des filaments sont dépourvus d'étoiles jeunes, mais ils montrent des signes de fragmentation radiale et longitudinale, ce qui indique que de la formation stellaire pourrait à l'avenir y avoir lieu. / The new generation of wide-bandwidth high-resolution receivers turns almost any radio observation into a spectral survey. In the case of wide-field imaging of the interstellar medium, such a wealth of data provides new diagnostic tools, but also poses new challenges in terms of data processing and analysis. The ORION-B project aims at observing 5 square degrees of the OB molecular cloud, or about half of the cloud's surface, over the entire 3mm band. The emission of tens of molecular tracers has been mapped, including CO isotopologues, HCO, HCN, HNC, N$_2$H$^+$, methanol, SO, CN...Having access to spatially resolved maps from many molecular species enables us to identify the best tracers of the gas density and illumination. Machine learning techniques have also been applied to these maps, in order to segment the molecular cloud into typical regions based on their molecular emission, and to quantify the most meaningful correlations of different molecular tracers with each other and with physical quantities such as density or dust temperature.The wide-field coverage, together with the spatial and spectral resolution, also allows to characterize statistically the kinematics and dynamics of the gas. The amount of momentum in the compressive and solenoidal (rotational) modes of turbulence are retrieved, showing that the cloud is dominated by solenoidal motions, with the compressive modes being concentrated in two star-forming regions. This result is in line with the overall very low star formation efficiency of the cloud, and highlights the role of compressive forcing in the star formation process.The numerous filaments identified in the molecular cloud also prove to have rather low densities, and are very stable against gravitational collapse. Most filaments are starless, but they show signs of longitudinal and radial fragmentation, which indicates that star formation might occur later on.

Within the currently well-established ΛCDM cosmological framework we still lack a satisfactory un- derstanding of the processes that trigger, regulate and eventually quench star formation on galactic scales. Gas flows (including inflows from the cosmic web and supernovae-driven outflows) are con- sidered to act as self-regulatory mechanisms, generating the scaling relations between stellar mass, star formation rate and metallicity observed in the local Universe by large spectroscopic surveys. These surveys, however, have so far been limited by the availability of only one spectrum per galaxy. The aim of this dissertation is to expand the study of star formation and chemical abundances to resolved scales within galaxies by using integral field spectroscopy (IFS) data, mostly from the ongoing SDSS- IV MaNGA survey. In the first part of this thesis I demonstrate the ubiquitous presence of extended low ionisation emission-line regions (LIERs) in both late- and early-type galaxies. By studying the Hα equivalent width and diagnostic line ratios radial profiles, together with tracers of the underlying stellar popula- tion, I show that LIERs are not due to a central point source but to hot evolved (post-asymptotic giant branch) stars. In light of this, I suggest a new classification scheme for galaxies based on their line emission. By analysing the colours, star formation rates, morphologies, gas and stellar kinematics and environmental properties of galaxies with substantial LIER emission, I identify two distinct popula- tions. Galaxies where the central regions are LIER-like, but show star formation at larger radii are late types in which star formation is slowly quenched inside-out. This transformation is associated with massive bulges. Galaxies dominated by LIER emission at all radii, on the other hand, are red-sequence galaxies harbouring a residual cold gas component, acquired mostly via external accretion. Quiescent galaxies devoid of line emission reside in denser environments, which suggests environmental effects as a likely cause for the existence of line-less galaxies on the red sequence. In the second part of this dissertation I focus on the study of resolved chemical abundances by characterising the gas phase oxygen and nitrogen abundance gradients in a large sample of star forming galaxies. I analyse the deviations from an exponential profile at small and large radii and the dependence of the gradients on stellar mass. These findings are interpreted in the context of the inside-out paradigm of disc growth. I then demonstrate the necessity of gas flows, which are responsible for the observed flattening of the metallicity and N/O ratio gradients at large radii. Finally, I present a case study based on one nearby galaxy (NGC 628), in which I combine IFS and cold gas data to derive a spatially resolved metal budget and estimate the mass of metals lost by the galaxy throughout its life- time. By using simple physically-motivated models of chemical evolution I infer the average outflow loading factor to be of order unity.

La dynamique du milieu interstellaire (MIS) est au cœur de notre compréhension de la formation des étoiles. La structuration du MIS est régiée par l’interaction entre gravité, mouvements turbulents et champs magnétiques. Si les deux premiers acteurs sont bien caractérisés par les observations, le r ˆ ole du champ magnétique Galactique (CMG), ainsi que son interaction avec la matière interstellaire, sont encore peu connus. La cartographie complète du ciel dans le domaine submillimétrique réalisée par le satellite Planck nous permet d’étudier la structure du CMG, projetée sur le plan du ciel, à partir de la polarisationde l’émission de la poussière interstellaire. Dans cette thèse, nous présentons une analyse des cartes en polarisation à 353 GHz, observées par l’instrument à hautes fréquences HFI de Planck. Nous étudions la structure du CMG et son interaction avec la turbulence interstellaire, de l’ensemble du voisinage Solaire aux échelles de la structure en filaments de la matière, dans le milieu diffus et les nuages moléculaires. La première étude statistique de la corrélation entre la géométrie du CMG et la structure de matière interstellaire est réaliséeen utilisant une méthode originale pour identifier les structures et mesurer leur orientation sur l’ensemble du ciel, puis quantifier les effets de projections. Les résultats sont interprétés en référence aux hypothèses théoriques et aux résultats obtenus à partir de simulationsnumériques magnétohydrodynamiques. Nous concluons que la turbulence tend à former des structures parallèles au champ magnétique dans le milieu diffus, et la gravité des structures perpendiculaires au champ dans les nuages moléculaires. Enfin, nous présentons et discutons deux perspectives liées à notre travail: la modélisation du ciel en polarisation aux hautes latitudes Galactiques comme avant-plan du fond cosmologique, et la relation entre cinématique du gaz et champ magnétique dans les structures en filaments du MIS. / The study of the dynamics of the interstellar medium (ISM) is essential to understand star formation. The ISM is a turbulent and magnetized medium governed by the interplay of self-gravity, turbulent motions and magnetic fields. While the former two are well characterized byexisting models and observations, today, the role of the Galactic magnetic field (GMF), and its interaction with interstellar matter, represent the most difficult aspects to probe. Thanks to its high sensitivity and resolution, full-sky coverage, and imaging at sub-mm wavelengths,the Planck satellite represents an enormous step forward in the characterization of the statistical properties of the GMF, as traced by dust polarization. In this thesis we present an analysis of the 353 GHz Stokes parameters maps (I, Q, U) observed with the High Frequency Instrument (HFI) of Planck. we aim at studying the structure of the GMF, and its interplay with interstellar turbulence, from the largest scales in the Solar neighborhood to those of the filamentary structures in the diffuse ISM and molecular clouds. We also develop a dedicated methodology to produce the first statistical study on the correlation betweenthe geometry of the GMF, projected on the plane of the sky, and the structure of interstellar matter. We interpret the results of the data analysis in light of theoretical models and Magneto-Hydrodynamic (MHD) numerical simulations, and conclude that my findings supporta scenario of formation of structures in the ISM where turbulence organizes matter parallel to the magnetic field in the diffuse medium, and the gas self-gravity produces perpendicular structures in the densest and magnetically dominated regions. We propose and discuss several perspectives of research related to our results, from the modeling of the high-latitude sky in polarization, for the investigation of dust properties and cosmological foregrounds, to the comparison of magnetic fields with the kinematics of the filamentary structures in the SM.

Orientador: Carmen Maria Andreazza / Banca: Edson Denis Leonel / Banca: José Williams dos Santos Vilas Boas / Resumo: De acordo com os resultados observacionais de condensações de nuvens moleculares escuras, grandes variações na razão 13CO/C18O são observadas quando se comparam os resultados obtidos nas condensações situadas dentro da mesma nuvem, bem como de nuvem para nuvem. O valor médio dessa razão na condensação principal de Ophiuchus é inferior a 5. Por outro lado, o valor encontrado nas condensações que estão situadas ao norte de Oph é maior que 10. Grandes diferenças também são encontradas quando se comparam os resultados observacionais de diferentes nuvens escuras, tais como Ophiuchus e Taurus, onde são observados também um decréscimo da razão C18O/C17O com o aumento da densidade. Os processos químicos e físicos que governam essas variações ainda não estão claros. Nesse sentido, o objetivo da presente proposta é analisar a influência do colapso gravitacional de condensações de nuvens moleculares escuras na síntese das moléculas CO, C17O, C18O, 13CO, 13C17O e 13C18O. Tal análise é feita com base em comparações entre modelos que consideram diferentes condições entre si, tais como, tamanho da cadeia química, velocidade de colapso, densidade inicial e processos de congelamento de espécies químicas na superfície de grãos de poeira. Os resultados obtidos mostram que o tamanho da cadeia química tem influência nas razões 13CO/C18O e C18O/C17O, mas não tanto quanto a densidade inicial e a velocidade do colapso. Além disso, o congelamento das espécies químicas nos grãos é mais significativo nos estágios mais avançados da evolução da condensação. Os modelos de condensações escuras que sofrem colapso gravitacional lento e em queda livre reproduzem satisfatoriamente as razões 13CO/C18O e C18O/C17O observadas, o que permite concluir que o colapso gravitacional pode ter um importante efeito nas referidas razões. / Abstract: According to the observational results of dark molecular clouds condensations, large variations in the ratio 13CO/C18O are observed when comparing the results obtained in the condensations located within the same cloud and cloud to cloud. The average value of this ratio in the main condensation of Ophiuchus is below 5. On the other hand, the value found in the condensations that are located north of Oph is larger than 10. Large differences are also found when comparing the observational results of different dark clouds such as Ophiuchus and Taurus, in which are also found a decrease of the C18O/C17O ratio with increasing density. The chemical and physical processes that govern these variations are still unclear. In this sense, the objective of this proposal is to analyze the influence of the gravitational collapse of centrally condensed clumps of dense molecular gas in the synthesis of the CO, C17O, C18O, 13CO, 13C17O and 13C18O molecules. This analysis is based on comparisons among models that consider different condition, such as, chemical chain, initial density, speed of collapse and freezing processes of the chemical species on the surface of dust grains. The results show that the size of the chemical chain has influence on the 13CO/C18O and C18O/C17O ratios, but they are not as important as the initial density and the speed of the collapse. Furthermore, the freezing of chemical species on the grains occurs at later times of the collapse. The models of a gravitational free-fall collapsing core and of slowly contracting core with higher initial density are consistent with observations. These results indicate that the gravitational collapse of molecular cores can have an important effect in the 13CO/C18O and C18O/C17O ratios. / Mestre

Neste trabalho primeiramente estudamos os efeitos na propagação de ondas de Alfvén em plasmas empoeirados encontrados em inúmeros ambientes astrofísicos. A relação de dispersão da onda é modificada apresentando novos mecanismos de amortecimento. Há na literatura dados observacionais que indicam a existência de condições para crescimento de partículas de poeira na base da atmosfera de estrelas gigantes e supergigantes frias. Construímos um modelo de perda de massa para essas estrelas no qual mostramos que um fluxo de ondas de Alfvén, amortecido pela presença de poeira, pode contribuir para a geração de um vento de baixa velocidade e alta taxa de perda de massa, de acordo com as observações. Já no caso de estrelas quentes, mostramos como é possível obter as condições ideais para formação e crescimento destas partículas em um modelo de colisão de ventos em sistemas binários. A partir deste modelo, é possível explicar as altas emissões em raios-X observadas, além do crescimento de grãos no pós-choque. Aplicando a idéia ao sistema binário de eta Carinae, o modelo permite a determinação dos parâmetros orbitais do sistema. A poeira contida nos ventos estelares é então ejetada para o meio interestelar. Através de um cálculo semi-empírico determinamos a importância de cada intervalo de massa estelar, em cada etapa evolutiva, no retorno de material sólido ao MI. Em regiões de formação estelar investigamos como as ondas de Alfvén, amortecidas pela presença de poeira, influenciam a estabilidade de nuvens moleculares. Em oposição às teorias encontradas na literatura, mostramos que uma nuvem molecular anã, suportada apenas por pressão magnética, não pode ser dinamicamente estável. / In this work, we firstly discuss the propagation of Alfvén waves in dusty plasmas found in several astrophysical environments. The wave dispersion relation is modified giving rise to new damping mechanisms. There are in the literature observational data indicating the presence of dust near the surface of cool giant and supergiant stars. We developed a stellar mass loss model where we show that a flux of Alfvén waves, damped by the dust presence,can generate a low velocity and high mass loss rate wind, in agreement with the observations. In the case of hot stars we show how it is possible to obtain the special conditions for dust growth in a wind collision model of massive binary systems. For this model it is possible to explain both, the high X-rays emissions and dust growth at the post-shock phase. Applying the idea to the $eta$ Carinae binary system, the model allows the determination of the system orbital and the stellar wind parameters. The stellar wind´s dust is then ejected to the interstellar medium. In a semi-empirical calculation we showed the importance of each stellar mass, at each evolutionary phase, on the dust feedback of the ISM. For star formation regions, we investigate the role of Alfvén waves, damped by the dust presence, on the stability of the molecular clouds. In spite of the works found in the literature, we showed that a dwarf molecular cloud, magnetically supported only, is unstable.

The transit method, employed by Microvariability and Oscillation of Stars (MOST), Kepler, and various ground-based surveys has enabled the characterization of extrasolar planets to unprecedented precision. These results are precise enough to begin to measure planet atmosphere composition, planetary oblateness, starspots, and other phenomena at the level of a few hundred parts per million. However, these results depend on our understanding of stellar limb darkening, that is, the intensity distribution across the stellar disk that is sequentially blocked as the planet transits. Typically, stellar limb darkening is assumed to be a simple parameterization with two coefficients that are derived from stellar atmosphere models or fit directly. In this work, we revisit this assumption and compute synthetic planetary-transit light curves directly from model stellar atmosphere center-to-limb intensity variations (CLIVs) using the plane-parallel Atlas and spherically symmetric SAtlas codes. We compare these light curves to those constructed using best-fit limb-darkening parameterizations. We find that adopting parametric stellar limb-darkening laws leads to systematic differences from the more geometrically realistic model stellar atmosphere CLIV of about 50–100 ppm at the transit center and up to 300 ppm at ingress/egress. While these errors are small, they are systematic, and they appear to limit the precision necessary to measure secondary effects. Our results may also have a significant impact on transit spectra.

We have obtained a Chandra/HETGS spectrum of one of the most massive and luminous stars in the Galaxy: the blue hypergiant Cyg OB2-12 (HIP 101364, spectral type B3 Ia+). This is the first measurement at high resolution of X-ray spectral lines in a blue hypergiant and allows comparison of X-ray properties between massive stars at different but related evolutionary stages: O-type supergiants, luminous blue variables, Wolf-Rayet stars, and blue hypergiants stars. The new data provide a look at how the most massive stars shed mass during their pre-supernova evolution. We find that In Cyg OB2-12 the resolved Si and Mg lines are broadened by about 1000 km/s (FWHM). The lines, however, do not show appreciable centroid shifts (/s), which would be much larger for canonical moderately thick winds (~500 km/s). The He-like Mg XI lines show evidence of photo-excitation, implying a wind origin close to the UV-bright photosphere. The spectrum also indicates relatively high temperature plasma, up to 22 MK (1.9 keV), showing significant continuum and emission lines below 5A (above 2.5 keV). Hence, at first glance, the spectrum resembles neither an O-star thick wind, nor a magnetically confined (narrow-line) plasma. We will present more detailed wind models using both X-ray and UV spectra to constrain fundamental physical parameters of this star.

As WR 6 is a putatively single WN4 star, and is relatively bright (V = 6.9), it is an ideal case for studying the wind mechanisms in these extremely luminous stars. To obtain higher resolution spectra at higher energy (above 1 keV) than previously obtained with the XMM/Newton RGS, we have observed WR 6 with the Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer for 450 ks. We have resolved emission lines of S, Si, Mg, Ne, and Fe, which all show a “fin”-shaped profile, characteristic of a self-absorbed uniformly expanding shell. Steep blue edges gives robust maximal expansion velocities of about 2000 km/s, somewhat larger than the 1700 km/s derived from UV lines. The He-like lines all indicate that X-ray emitting plasmas are far from the photosphere – even at the higher energies where opacity is lowest – as was also the case for the longer wavelength lines observed with XMM-Newton/RGS. Abundances determined from X-ray spectral modeling indicate enhancements consistent with nucleosynthesis. The star was also variable in X-rays and in simultaneous optical photometry obtained with Chandra aspect camera, but not coherently with the optically known period of 3.765 days.