Conventional Extrinsic Fabry-Perot Interferometric (EFPI) sensors have been used to measure a variety of physical parameters like temperature, pressure and strain. A modified version of this geometry is successfully implemented to measure low-level magnetic field densities. A complete optical fiber based magnetometer system consisting of sensor head, laser source, opto-electronics, signal demodulation circuitry and display is designed, fabricated and tested. Various electronic signal demodulation schemes are discussed. The Quadrature Phase Shifted EFPI signal demodulation scheme, used in the system, is studied in detail. The scheme is designed and implemented in both analog and digital domain and the advantages and drawbacks of each type are presented. Primary limitations in the measurement of extremely low-level magnetic field densities are discussed and methods to overcome them using electronic signal processing schemes are suggested for future consideration. / Master of Science

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Abstract This thesis studies the long-term evolution of the photospheric magnetic field using surface flux transport simulations. The photospheric magnetic field and magnetic activity are tightly connected to space weather, and affect the whole heliosphere including the Earth. However, due to a lack of reliable observations our understanding of the long-term evolution of the photospheric magnetic field is still poor. Surface flux transport models, which are capable of simulating the evolution of the whole surface field from observations of solar activity, can be used to study the field in times when direct observations are not available. In this thesis we validate our surface flux transport model, optimize its parameters and test its sensitivity to uncertainties in parameter values and input data. We find a need to extend the model with a decay term to properly model the deep and long minimum between solar cycles 23 and 24, and simulate the photospheric magnetic field of cycles 21–24 using magnetographic observations as input. We also study consequences of hemispherically asymmetric activity, and show that activity in one hemisphere is enough to maintain polar fields in both hemispheres through cross-equatorial flow of magnetic flux. We develop a new method to reconstruct active regions from calcium K line and sunspot polarity observations. We show that this reconstruction is able to accurately capture the correct axial dipole moment of active regions. We study the axial dipole moments of observed active regions and find that a significant fraction of them have a sign opposite to the sign expected from Hale’s and Joy’s laws, proving that the new reconstruction method has an advantage over existing methods that rely on Hale’s and Joy’s laws to define polarities. We show one example of a long simulation covering solar cycles 15–21, demonstrating that using the active region reconstruction and surface flux transport model presented in this thesis it is possible to simulate the large-scale evolution of the photospheric magnetic field over the past century. / Original papers The original publications are not included in the electronic version of the dissertation. Virtanen, I. O. I., Virtanen, I. I., Pevtsov, A. A., Yeates, A., & Mursula, K. (2017). Reconstructing solar magnetic fields from historical observations. II. Testing the surface flux transport model. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 604, A8. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201730415 http://jultika.oulu.fi/Record/nbnfi-fe2017103050356 Virtanen, I. O. I., Virtanen, I. I., Pevtsov, A. A., & Mursula, K. (2018). Reconstructing solar magnetic fields from historical observations. III. Activity in one hemisphere is sufficient to cause polar field reversals in both hemispheres. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 616, A134. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201732323 http://jultika.oulu.fi/Record/nbnfi-fe201902205813 Virtanen, I. O. I., Virtanen, I. I., Pevtsov, A. A., Bertello, L., Yeates, A., & Mursula, K. (2019). Reconstructing solar magnetic fields from historical observations. IV. Testing the reconstruction method. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 627, A11. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201935606 http://jultika.oulu.fi/Record/nbnfi-fe2019091828628 Virtanen, I. O. I., Virtanen, I. I., Pevtsov, A. A., & Mursula, K. (2019) Axial dipole moment of solar active regions in cycles 21-24. Manuscript.

We have carried out a theoretical and an experimental study of thermal effects arising in bulk high-Tc superconductors. The theoretical study has allowed us to predict the self-heating behaviour. We have calculated the temperature evolution. We have shown the existence of a forbidden temperature window, and we have determined the analytical expression of a threshold field (Htr2) separating the « middle» and the «high» dissipation state . From a numerical modelling of a short cylinder, we have determined the time and spatial dependance of dissipated power and temperature within the sample. We have shown that the temperature rise is the highest along the corner location where the dissipated power is maximum. We have designed and constructed a susceptometer for characterizing large bulk superconductors (f →32 mm). The susceptometer allows a small temperature gradient (< 0.1K) to be achieved in the presence of large heating rates. It allows large AC and DC fields to be applied simultaneously, and was upgraded to measure simultaneously local temperatures and magnetic inductions. We have determined the heat transfer occuring in the susceptometer chamber. Magneto-thermal measurements with this system can be carried out with a high sensitivity and are found to be in very good agreement with the theoretical predictions. This work underlines the importance of the cooling conditions that can affect the distribution of the magneto-thermal properties within the superconductor.

The thermal history of the Earth, from planetary accretion and core differentiation up to the present time, is of paramount importance for understanding our planet. The thermal evolution of the core and the mantle dictate the generation of the Earth's internal magnetic field and its evolution through time. In this dissertation, I study scenarios for the thermal and magnetic evolution of the Earth, using numerical simulations for mantle convection and implementing recent geochemical models for the mantle and core. The conditions for which a magnetic field can be generated in the Earth's core are studied using parameterized models for energy and entropy. The model devised in this project couples the results of the numerical simulations with the parameterized models for the core, to produce a global thermal and magnetic history, with feed-back between events happening in the mantle and the core.<p> The dissertation presents an analysis of the scenarios that can be constructed from implementing new constraints into the thermal models for the mantle and core and emphasizes the most relevant scenarios which can be applied to the Earth's evolution, consistent with physical parameters, and geochemical and magnetic constraints known to date. In addition, I discuss the relevance of some of the scenarios which appear incompatible with the Earth's evolution, but are reminiscent of the evolution of other terrestrial bodies.<p> The results of this work show that the most successful scenarios for the thermal and magnetic evolution require the presence of small amounts of core internal heating in the form of radioactive potassium, or a slightly increased concentration of radioactive elements at the base of the mantle, due to isolated, if the base of the mantle is less mobile and acts as a thermal insulator between the core and the overlying convective mantle primordial reservoirs. Successful scenarios are also obtained if the base of the mantle is less mobile and acts as a thermal insulator between the core and the overlying convective mantle. If the base of the mantle is less mobile and acts as a thermal insulator between the core and the overlying convective mantle.

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The thermal history of the Earth, from planetary accretion and core differentiation up to the present time, is of paramount importance for understanding our planet. The thermal evolution of the core and the mantle dictate the generation of the Earth's internal magnetic field and its evolution through time. In this dissertation, I study scenarios for the thermal and magnetic evolution of the Earth, using numerical simulations for mantle convection and implementing recent geochemical models for the mantle and core. The conditions for which a magnetic field can be generated in the Earth's core are studied using parameterized models for energy and entropy. The model devised in this project couples the results of the numerical simulations with the parameterized models for the core, to produce a global thermal and magnetic history, with feed-back between events happening in the mantle and the core.<p> The dissertation presents an analysis of the scenarios that can be constructed from implementing new constraints into the thermal models for the mantle and core and emphasizes the most relevant scenarios which can be applied to the Earth's evolution, consistent with physical parameters, and geochemical and magnetic constraints known to date. In addition, I discuss the relevance of some of the scenarios which appear incompatible with the Earth's evolution, but are reminiscent of the evolution of other terrestrial bodies.<p> The results of this work show that the most successful scenarios for the thermal and magnetic evolution require the presence of small amounts of core internal heating in the form of radioactive potassium, or a slightly increased concentration of radioactive elements at the base of the mantle, due to isolated, if the base of the mantle is less mobile and acts as a thermal insulator between the core and the overlying convective mantle primordial reservoirs. Successful scenarios are also obtained if the base of the mantle is less mobile and acts as a thermal insulator between the core and the overlying convective mantle. If the base of the mantle is less mobile and acts as a thermal insulator between the core and the overlying convective mantle.