Stars form via the gravitational collapse of molecular clouds during which time the protostellar object contracts by over seven orders of magnitude. If all the angular momentum present in the natal cloud was conserved during collapse, stars would approach rotational velocities rapid enough to tear themselves apart within just a few Myr. In contrast to this, observations of pre-main sequence rotation rates are relatively slow (∼ 1 − 15 days) indicating that significant quantities of angular momentum must be removed from the star. I use observations of fully convective pre-main sequence stars in two well-studied, nearby regions of star formation (namely the Orion Nebula Cluster and Taurus-Auriga) to determine the removal rate of stellar angular momentum. I find the accretion disc-hosting stars to be rotating at a slower rate and contain less specific angular momentum than the disc-less stars. I interpret this as indicating a period of accretion disc-regulated angular momentum evolution followed by near-constant rotational evolution following disc dispersal. Furthermore, assuming that the age spread inferred from the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram constructed for the star forming region is real, I find that the removal rate of angular momentum during the accretion-disc hosting phase to be more rapid than that expected from simple disc-locking theory whereby contraction occurs at a fixed rotation period. This indicates a more efficient process of angular momentum removal must operate, most likely in the form of an accretion-driven stellar wind or outflow emanating from the star-disc interaction. The initial circumstellar envelope that surrounds a protostellar object during the earliest stages of star formation is rotationally flattened into a disc as the star contracts. An effective viscosity, present within the disc, enables the disc to evolve: mass accretes inwards through the disc and onto the star while momentum migrates outwards, forcing the outer regions of the disc to expand. I used spatially resolved submillimetre detections of the dust and gas components of protoplanetary discs, gathered from the literature, to measure the radial extent of discs around low-mass pre-main sequence stars of ∼ 1−10 Myr and probe their viscous evolution. I find no clear observational evidence for the radial expansion of the dust component. However, I find tentative evidence for the expansion ofthe gas component. This suggests that the evolution of the gas and dust components of protoplanetary discs are likely governed by different astrophysical processes. Observations of jets and outflows emanating from protostars and pre-main sequence stars highlight that it may also be possible to remove angular momentum from the circumstellar material. Using the sample of spatially resolved protoplanetary discs, I find no evidence for angular momentum removal during disc evolution. I also use the spatially resolved debris discs from the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array-2 Observations of Nearby Stars survey to constrain the amount of angular momentum retained within planetary systems. This sample is compared to the protoplanetary disc angular momenta and to the angular momentum contained within pre-stellar cores. I find that significant quantities of angular momentum must be removed during disc formation and disc dispersal. This likely occurs via magnetic braking during the formation of the disc, via the launching of a disc or photo-evaporative wind, and/or via ejection of planetary material following dynamical interactions.

Dans les disques protoplanétaires, les grains micrométriques croissent jusqu'à atteindre des tailles de planétésimaux avant de finalement former des planètes. Cependant,des études dynamiques ont montré qu'une fois que les grains atteignent une taille critique, ils dérivent rapidement vers l'étoile et y sont accrétés. Ce problème est connu comme la barrière de dérive radiale. De plus, des expériences en laboratoire ont montré que les grains peuvent fragmenter ou rebondir et ainsi arrêter la croissance avant les tailles kilométriques.Afin de passer outre ces barrières, plusieurs méthodes ont été proposés comme les pièges à particules (dans les vortex ou les sillons planétaires) qui demandent des évolutions dynamiques à grande échelle. Dans ce travail, nous choisissons d'étudier les propriétés intrinsèques de la poussière pendant leur croissance et plus particulièrement leur porosité.Nous développons un modèle d'évolution de la porosité pendant la croissance en fonction de la masse des grains pour plusieurs régimes d'expansion/compression (Kataoka et al. 2013, Okuzumi et al. 2012) et l'implémentons dans notre code SPH bifluide (Barrière-Fouchet et al. 2005). Nous trouvons que la croissance des grains poreux est accélérée en comparaison aux grains compacts et leur taille peut atteindre plusieurs kilomètres. De surcroît,la dérive est légèrement ralentie pour les grains poreux qui peuvent croître jusqu'à de plus grandes tailles avant de commencer à dériver vers l'étoile. Nous constatons aussi que les grains des régions externes du disque grossissent plus que quand l'effet de la porosité est négligé. Ces deux mécanismes peuvent aider les grains à outrepasser la barrière de dérive radiale, notamment en passant dans le régime de traînée de Stokes, et ainsi former des planétésimaux.Nous étudions aussi l'effet de la fragmentation et du rebond sur le comportement des grains. En considérant un seuil de fragmentation constant, nous observons que la croissance de grains poreux est retardée un temps par la fragmentation mais qu'elle se poursuit vers de grandes tailles et par conséquent, permet de passer outre les problèmes dus à la fragmentation et à la dérive radiale. Cependant, les grains très poreux sont plus fragiles et peuvent se fragmenter plus facilement entraînant une accrétion massive des poussières dans l'étoile. De plus, nous montrons que les effets du rebond peuvent être négligés devant ceux de la fragmentation.Enfin, nous observons également que la taille des monomères et du paramètre de viscosité turbulente peut avoir une influence sur l'évolution de la porosité et donc de la poussière dans le disque.La porosité permet donc de favoriser la croissance des grains et accélérer le découplage des grains. Les grains très poreux peuvent être plus sensibles à la fragmentation.Cependant, les effets collectifs de la poussière couplés à la porosité peuvent aider les grains à outrepasser les barrières de formation planétaire. La barrière de rebond peut être négligée dans le cas de grains poreux devant les autres barrières. Enfin,l'intensité de la turbulence altère la croissance et ainsi le devenir de la poussière.La taille des monomères modifie le facteur de remplissage sans toutefois impacter le découplage des grains dans les parties internes / In protoplanetary discs, micron-sized grains should grow up to planetesimal sizes in order to ultimately form planets. However, dynamical studies show that once they reach a critical size, they drift rapidly into the accreting star. This is known as the radial-drift barrier. Moreover, laboratory experiments have shown that grains can fragment or bounce, stopping the growth towards planetesimal sizes.In order to overcome those barriers, several methods have been proposed such as particles traps (e.g. vortices or planet gaps) which all involve large-scale dynamics.In this work, we choose to investigate the intrinsic properties of the grains during their growth, in particular their porosity.We thus consider the growth of grains with variable porosity as a function of their mass in several regimes of compression/expansion (Kataoka et al. 2013, Okuzumiet al. 2012) and implement it in our 3D SPH two-fluid code (Barrière-Fouchetet al. 2005).We find that growth is accelerated for porous grains that can reach kilometersizes. On the other hand, drift is slightly slowed down for porous grains that can grow up to larger sizes before drifting towards the star. As a result, grains in the outer regions of the disc reach larger sizes than when porosity is neglected. Those two mechanisms can help grains overcome the radial-drift barrier and form planetesimals.The Stokes drag regime appears to play a substantial part in maintaining grains in the disc.Considering a constant fragmentation threshold, we also find out that growth is delayed because of fragmentation but reaching large sizes and thus overcoming problems due to fragmentation and radial drift is still possible. However, very fluffy grains are fragile and can be easily disrupted leading to a massive accretion of dust into the star. Moreover, we show that the effects due to dust bouncing can be neglected compared to fragmentation.Finally, we investigate the influence of the size of monomers and -parameter on the evolution of porosity and then dust in the disc.Dust growth is accelerated by porosity and thus promotes grains decoupling. Very fluffy grains are more affected by fragmentation. However, dust collective effects and porosity can help grains to overcome planet formation barriers. Besides,the bouncing barrier can be neglected in the case of porous dust compared to other barriers. Finally, the intensity of turbulence can alter the growth and so the outcome of dust. The size of monomers modifies the grain filling factor without impacting dust decoupling in the inner parts of the disc

This thesis focuses on the evolution of zonal flows in self-gravitating accretion discs and their resulting effect on disc stability; it also studies the process of disc gravito-turbulence, with particular emphasis given to the way the turbulent state is able to extract energy from the background flow and sustain itself by means of a feedback. Chapters 1 and 2 provide an overview of systems involving accretion discs and a theoretical introduction to the theory of accretion discs, along with potential methods of angular momentum transport to explain the observed accretion rates. To address the issue of the gravito-turbulence self-sustenance, a compressible non-linear spectral code (dubbed CASPER) was developed from scratch in C; its equations and specifications are laid out in Chapter 3. In Chapter 4 an ideal (no viscosities or cooling) linear stability analysis to non-axisymmetric perturbations is carried out when a zonal flow is present in the flow. This yields two instabilities: a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (active only if the zonal flow wavelength is sufficiently small) and one driven by self-gravity. A stability analysis of the zonal flow itself is carried out in Chapter 5 by means of an axisymmetric linear analysis, using non-ideal conditions. This considers instability due to both density wave modes (which give rise to overstability) and slow modes (which result in thermal or viscous instability) and, thanks a different perturbation wavelength regime, represents an extension to the classical theory of thermal and viscous instabilities. The slow mode instability is found to be aided by high Prandtl numbers and adiabatic index γ values, while quenched by fast cooling. The overstability is likewise stabilised by fast cooling, and occurs in a non-self-gravitational regime only if γ ≲ 1.305. Lastly, Chapter 6 illustrates the results of the non-linear simulations carried out using the CASPER code. Here the system settles into a state of gravito-turbulence, which appears to be linked to a spontaneously-developing zonal flow. Results show that this zonal flow is driven by the slow mode instability discussed in Chapter 5, and that the presence of zonal flows triggers a non-axisymmetric instability, as seen in Chapter 4. The role of the latter is to constrain the zonal flow amplitude, with the resulting zonal flow disruption providing a generation of shearing waves which permits the self-sustenance of the turbulent state.

Stars form from the collapse of molecular clouds and evolve in an environment rich in gas and dust before becoming Main Sequence stars. During this phase, characterised by the presence of a protoplanetary disc, stars manifest changes in the structure and luminosity. This thesis performs a multi-wavelength analysis, from optical to mm range, on a sample of young stars (YSOs), mainly Classical T Tauri (CTTS). The purpose is to study optical and infrared variability and its relation with the protoplanetary disc. Longer wavelength, in the mm range, are used instead to investigate the evolution of the disc, in terms of dust growth. In optical, an F-test on a sample of 39 CTTS reveals that 67\% of the stars are variable. The variability, quantified through pooled sigma, is visible both in magnitude amplitudes and changes over time. Time series analysis applied on the more variable stars finds the presence of quasi periodicity, with periods longer than two weeks, interpreted either as eclipsing material in the disc happening on a non-regular basis, or as a consequence of star-disc interaction via magnetic field lines. The variability of YSOs is confirmed also in infrared, even if with lower amplitude. No strong correlations are found between optical and infrared variability, which implies a different cause or a time shift in the two events. By using a toy model to explore their origin, I find that infrared variations are likely to stem from emissions in the inner disc. The evolution of discs in terms of dust growth is confirmed in most discs by the analysis of the slope of the spectral energy distribution (SED), after correcting for wind emission and optical depth effects. However, the comparison with a radiative transfer model highlights that a number of disc parameters, in particular disc masses and temperature, dust size distribution and composition, can also affect the slope of the SED.