Thesis (M.S. in environmental science)--Washington State University, August 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Sept. 22, 2009). "School of Earth and Environmental Sciences." Includes bibliographical references (p. 92-97).

Zugl.: Köln, Univ., Diss., 2009

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1966. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

München, Techn. University, Diss., 2002.

Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, is not only an emitter of thermal radiation like any other planet. Jupiter also emits relatively high-intensity non-thermal radiation in two bands, the decimetre wavelength range and the decametre wavelength range (5 MHz< f < 40 MHz). The decimetric radiation is believed to be due to synchrotron radiation of electrons trapped in a kind of Jovian "Van Allen belt". This thesis deals almost exclusively with the decametric radiation. Although the decametric radiation has been observed for 15 years since its discovery by Burke and Franklin in 1955, there is no generally accepted theoretical model of its generation to be found in the literature as yet. This is not surprising, as there are many complex and confusing aspects of the radiation. And since our knowledge of the Jovian ionosphere, magnetosphere and magnetic field is very limited indeed, every theoretical model must be based on some more or less well justified assumptions. It is, however, possible to draw some conclusions from the observed properties of the decimetric and decametric radiation. The radiation in both bands is polarized. It has been shown that at least part of the polarization is an intrinsic property of the radiation source at Jupiter, This indicates the existence of a Jovian magnetic field. The magnitude and shape of the magnetic field, however, is open to discussion, although a dipole field does seem to be a good approximation at least for large distances from Jupiter. Intro. p. 1-2.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This thesis is a comprehensive investigation into the mechanics of evaporation experienced by planetesimals during accretion, a planet-building process. The evaporation events that these rocky bodies experience govern their chemical evolution, impacting the chemistry of the final body – a planet. Studying these planet-building processes is notoriously difficult (e.g., Sossi et al., 2019). There are still many unknowns surrounding what controls the degree of evaporation these bodies experience, and the resulting chemical signatures. The current study was designed to attempt to define some important parameters that govern silicate melt evaporation. Here, we isolate and evaluate the effects of (1) pressure, (2) oxygen fugacity and (3) the activity coefficient of MgO on evaporating planetesimals through a series of computational models. The model introduced in this study, the ƒO2 Modified KNFCMAS Model, uses a robust stepwise routine for calculating evaporative fluxes from a shrinking sphere. The modelling results are then compared to data from partial evaporation experiments of synthetic chondrite spheres to demonstrate the validity of this model, and to expose unknowns about the physicochemical conditions of high temperature silicate melts experiencing evaporation (in this case, the effective pressure, and the activity coefficient of MgO). Major element-oxide and isotope data from the models yielded two main conclusions concerning planetesimals: (1) the rate of evaporation is controlled by pressure and oxygen fugacity and (2) the chemical composition of the residual melt is controlled by oxygen fugacity and the activity coefficient of MgO. Results from computational modelling and evaporation experiments were used to determine an approximation for the activity coefficient of MgO in a simplified chondritic composition, as well as the effective pressure experienced by the evaporating spheres during the partial evaporation experiments. This study outlines the controls on planetesimal chemistry during evaporation and provides a more accessible means of studying these complex processes.

In recent years, thousands of exoplanets have been discovered around a variety of stellar hosts. The disks of gas and dust surrounding young stars are the location and source of material for planet formation. The properties of these protoplanetary disks therefore directly affect the planetary systems that may form. However, the details of the planet formation process are still unclear. In this dissertation, I constrain planet formation mechanisms by measuring the properties of protoplanetary disks, focusing on mass, dust grain growth, and dust settling. I use physically-motivated models and an Artificial Neural Network along with a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) fitting procedure to obtain these and other disk properties. This dissertation compiles the largest sample to date of consistently-modeled protoplanetary disks, probing how disk properties vary with host mass and age. The occurrence of planetary companions increases as stellar mass decreases. Thus, brown dwarfs (BDs), with smaller masses than pre-main-sequence stars, may commonly host planets. Studying properties of BD disks and comparing them to pre- main-sequence star disks is therefore important for constraining their planet-forming potential. I present spectral energy distribution (SED) models for BD and pre-main- sequence star disks in four star-forming regions. The SEDs consist of archival photometry data spanning optical to millimeter wavelengths. I model the BD disk SEDs using physically-motivated radiative transfer code; pre-main-sequence star SEDs are modeled using a newly-developed MCMC fitting procedure that allows for a more complete analysis of the disk properties. I compare disk masses and dust settling in these two disk categories to gauge how host mass affects these properties. Typical disk lifetimes are a few tens of millions of years; planet formation likely occurs within the first few million years or less. Comparing how disk properties vary between star-forming regions of different ages can help pinpoint the timeline for planet formation. I present SED models for BDs in four star-forming regions and pre-main-sequence stars in eleven star-forming regions. I obtain the disk masses, dust grain sizes, and amount of dust settling in the disks and discuss the differences and similarities of these properties across regions of varying age.

Some stars with similar properties to our sun (solar twins) have differ- ent chemical composition than the rest of the solar twins. One explanation might be planet engulfment. Therefore we did a large number of simu- lations where a disturbing star passed a sun and a planet at a distance closer than 100 AU to see how often the planet was engulfed. The result was that the planet in most cases was thrown out of the system, but it was engulfed in about 10 − 30% of the simulations when the planet was close to its star. The conclusion was that planet engulfment indeed can be a good explanation for the different chemical compositions of solar twins, at least in dense stellar clusters where such close passages should be quite common. / Vissa solliknande stja ̈rnor (s ̊a kallade soltvillingar) har en annorlunda kemisk sammansa ̈ttning ja ̈mfo ̈rt med resten av soltvillingarna. En mo ̈jlig fo ̈rklaring kan vara att dessa stja ̈rnor har slukat planeter. Da ̈rf ̈or gjorde vi ett stort antal simuleringar d ̈ar en sto ̈rande stja ̈rna passerade ett sys- tem best ̊aende av solen och en planet. Stj ̈arnan passerade p ̊a ett avst ̊and under 100 AU och vi observerade hur ofta planeten slukades. Resultatet var att planeten oftast slungades ut i rymden, men den slukades i 10-30% av simuleringarna da ̈r planeten kretsade na ̈ra sin stja ̈rna. Slutsatsen vara att planetslukning kan vara en rimlig f ̈orklaring till de annorlunda kemiska sammansa ̈ttningarna hos soltvillingar, ̊atminstone i ta ̈ta stja ̈rnhopar da ̈r na ̈ra stja ̈rnpassager bo ̈r vara ganska vanliga.

I present numerical simulations of intensity and degree of polarization of light reflected by Earth-like exoplanets. The results are presented as a function of wavelength, and for a few different phase angles and a few different points on the planet. At this stage the aim is to show the working code and test a few different set ups of the star-planet system in order to find preferable configurations for observations. Not surprisingly, phase angle 90◦ shows the largest degree of polarization. For beneficial wavelength regions, visual light shows a larger overall degree of polarization, while NIR shows very clear absorption patterns in the degree of polarization, making detection of the atmospheric composition possible.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1996. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. [158]-162).