We investigate several techniques to identify voids in the galaxy distribution of matter in the universe. We utilize galaxy number counts as a function of apparent magnitude and Wolf plots to search a two- or three-dimensional data set in a pencil-beam fashion to locate voids within the field of view. The technique is able to distinguish between voids that represent simply a decrease in density as well as those that show a build up of galaxies on the front or back side of the void. This method turns out to be primarily useable only at relatively short range (out to about 200 Mpc). Beyond this distance, the characteristics indicating a void become increasingly difficult to separate from the statistical background noise. We apply the technique to a very simplified model as well as to the Millennium Run dark matter simulation. We then compare results with those obtained on the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We also created the Watershed Void Examiner (WaVE) which treats densities in a fashion similar to elevation on a topographical map, and then we allow the "terrain" to flood. The flooded low-lying regions are identified as voids, which are allowed to grow and merge as the level of flooding becomes higher (the overdensity threshold increases). Void statistics can be calculated for each void. We also determine that within the Millennium Run semi-analytic galaxy catalog, the walls that separate the voids are permeable at a scale of 4 Mpc. For each resolution that we tested, there existed a characteristic density at which the walls could be penetrated, allowing a single void to grow to dominate the volume. With WaVE, we are able to get comparable results to those previously published, but often with fewer choices of parameters that could bias the results. We are also able to determine the the density at which the number of voids peaks for different resolutions as well as the expected number of void galaxies. The number of void galaxies is amazingly consistent at an overdensity of −0.600 at all resolutions, indicating that this could be a good choice for comparing models.

Galaxies are natural laboratories for testing fundamental physics on the nature of the dark matter. MOdified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) has been tested for over 20 years on small and large scales. While there are several versions of how MOND extrapolates to the large scales, and these versions are not yet fully successful, the original Bekenstein-Milgrom version of MOND is fully predictive and works very well on galaxy scales. However, little work has been done to explore this theory beyond fitting the rotation curves and Tully-Fisher relation of isolated disc galaxies. So far little is known of MONDian elliptical galaxies accelerating in any galaxy cluster. A defining feature of MOND is that internal dynamics of the galaxy depends on the overall acceleration of the galaxy. The existence of cuspy triaxial equilibria for elliptical galaxies is the minimal requirement to MOND. With the PhD project here, I constructed and then further studied the evolution and stability of gravitationally bound systems resembling like cuspy elliptical galaxies, both in isolation and when embedded in a uniform external field. I also studied the escape speeds from spiral galaxies, in particular by comparing the potentials of the Milky Way Galaxy in the Cold Dark Matter (CDM) and MOND frameworks.

We present new N-body, hydrodynamical simulations of the interaction between the starburst galaxy NGC 7714 and its poststarburst companion NGC 7715, focusing on the formation of the collisional features, including (1) the gas-rich star-forming bridge, (2) the large gaseous loop (and stellar tails) to the west of the system, (3) the very extended H I tail to the west and north of NGC 7714, and (4) the partial stellar ring in NGC 7714. Our simulations confirm the results of earlier work that an off-center inclined collision between two disk galaxies is almost certainly responsible for the peculiar morphologies of this system. However, we have explored a wider set of initial galaxy and collisional encounter parameters than previously and have found a relatively narrow range of parameters that reproduce all the major morphologies of this system. The simulations suggest specific mechanisms for the development of several unusual structures. We find that the complex gas bridge has up to four distinct components, with gas contributed from two sides of NGC 7715, as well as from NGC 7714. The observed gas-star offset in this bridge is accounted for in the simulations by the dissipative evolution of the gas. The models suggest that the most recently formed gas bridge component from NGC 7715 is interacting with gas from an older component. This interaction may have stimulated the band of star formation on the north side of the bridge. The models also indicate that the low surface brightness H I tail to the far west of NGC 7714 is the end of the NGC 7715 countertail, curved behind the two galaxies. The sensitivity of the tidal structures to collision parameters is demonstrated by comparisons between models with slightly different parameter values. Comparison of model and observational (H I) kinematics provides an important check that the morphological matches are not merely fortuitous. Line-of-sight velocity and dispersion fields from the model are found to match those of the observations reasonably well at current resolutions. Spectral evolutionary models of the NGC 7714 core by Lançon et al. suggest the possibility of multiple starbursts in the last 300 Myr. Our hydrodynamic models suggest that bursts could be triggered by induced ringlike waves and a postcollision buildup of gas in the core of the galaxy.

Title: Modelling the Orion Nebula Cluster Author: Václav Pavlík Department: Astronomical Institute of the Charles University Supervisor: doc. RNDr. Ladislav Šubr, Ph.D. (Astronomical Institute of the Charles University) Abstract: Young star clusters are widely discussed from the point of view of their evolution and structure. In this work we focused our attention on studying a typical representative of these objects - the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC, M 42) - based on the observational data, including their confrontation with N- body models from Šubr et al. (2012). These numerical models were inspired by the recently proposed evolutionary scenario, according to which the star clusters begin their evolution from very dense initial conditions. From the analysis of the X-ray sources we revealed that the ONC is likely to be rotationally symmetric in the inner area (� 0.7 pc). Further analysis including also optical and IR observational data led us to the conclusion that the ONC is elongated from the North-East to the South-West on large scales (up to 2 pc). We also compared radial profiles of different mass groups of stars and we discovered a possibly inverse mass segregation between stars with masses in the interval (1 ; 5) M⊙ and the stars less massive than 0.5 M⊙ in the range from 0.5 pc to 1.5 pc. This...