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Os caleidociclos têm sido utilizados como forma artística de apresentação de imagens, pinturas ou como parte de trabalhos artísticos, principalmente de imagens com simetrias; talvez os mais conhecidos sejam os trabalhos de M. C. Escher. As poucas publicações encontradas da teoria matemática envolvida nos caleidociclos dão base para imaginar e criar aplicações no desenvolvimento de habilidades e competências trabalhadas na escola. Para aumentar as possibilidades de aplicações de conceitos, teoremas e relações matemáticas estudadas no ensino básico, o presente trabalho apresenta algumas propostas de atividades utilizando os caleidociclos. As propostas foram elaboradas de acordo com o nível de ensino, ou seja, simetrias para o 7o ano, teorema de Pitágoras para os 8o e 9o anos do Ensino Fundamental, lei dos cossenos e relação fundamental da trigonometria para a 1a série e volume e área de superfície de sólidos geométricos para 2a série do Ensino Médio; algumas das propostas apresentam variações para se adequar ao nível de desenvolvimento em que a turma se encontra. Todos os moldes utilizados e outras possibilidades de caleidociclos, incluindo sólidos encaixantes aos caleidociclos, foram organizados ao final deste trabalho em um dos apêndices. Há também um apêndice com outros tipos de sólidos geométricos com movimentos, que podem ser usados no mesmo intuito de aplicação diferenciada da geometria espacial. / Kaleidocycles have been used asan artistic formof presentation of pictures, paintings or a part of artworks, especially images with symmetries; perhaps the best known works are M. C. Eschers. The few finded publications of the mathematical theory related to these three-dimensional rings give rise to imagine and create applications for developing skills to be worked in classroom. In order to increase the possibility of applications of concepts, theorems and mathematical relations, the present work proposes some activities dealing with kaleidocycles. The proposals were prepared in accordance with the students level of education, i.e., symmetries for the7th grade, the Pythagorean theorem for the 8th and 9th grades, law of cosines and the fundamental relation of trigonometry, volume and surface area of geometric solids for high school students; some of the proposals have variations to suit the level of development in which the class is at. All the molds used and other possibilities of kaleidocycles, including solids which fit into kaleidocycles, were organized at the end of this dissertation in one of the appendices. There is also an appendix with other types of mobile geometric solids that can be used in the same purpose in different applications of spatial geometry.

Background: Evaluation of power-force-velocity profiles in ballistic push-offs and in sprint movements are beneficial to enhance sport performance. There have only been a few studies investigating force-velocity profiles in rotational movements and there have not been any studies conducted on golf specific rotational movements. There is a lack of isoinertial power assessment protocols which can relate to golf swing performance. For this reason, 1080 Quantum was used for testing which is a machine able to measure power, force and velocity in several different resistance modes. Aim: The aim was to study the reliability of three golf specific rotational tests and to assess the reliable test’s validity. The secondary aim was to study the isoinertial force-velocity and power relationship in tests that assessed acceptable test-retest reliability and acceptable construct validity. Methods: Twelve high level golfers (handicap -1.5±1.2), 8 men and 4 women performed the tests with five different loads; 2 kg, 6 kg, 10 kg, 14 kg and 18kg with three golf specific rotational movements in a motorized cable machine (1080 Quantum, Sweden). The three new tests utilized were: full body rotational test (FBRT), thorax rotational test (TRT) and pelvis rotational test (PRT). Data gathered was used to study golfer’s individual force-velocity profile and to assess construct validity of the reliable tests against previously recorded normal-swing driver clubhead speed (CHSnormal), and maximum-swing driver clubhead speed (CHSmax). Construct validity was based on á priori stated hypothesizes, and data were analyzed with Spearman’s correlation coefficient (rs). Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and coefficient of variation (CV) was used to assess test-retest reliability of FBRT, TRT and PRT. Results: In the reliability assessment, the highest peak power (PP) (ICC, 0.968, 95% CI (0.889- 0.991)), corresponding peak force (PF) (ICC, 0.993, 95% CI (0.96- 0.998)) and corresponding peak velocity (PV) (ICC 0.773, 95% CI (0.17- 0.936)) was only found to be acceptable in FBRT. Construct validity assessment of FBRT was not found acceptable in either of the resistances. The calculated average slopes indicated a velocity dominant force-velocity profile for women and a force dominant for men. Conclusion: The study demonstrated that only the FBRT assessed acceptable test-retest reliability for measuring force, velocity and power. Based on our hypothesizes FBRT is not a valid indicator of golf performance on either resistance, however it had a significant moderate to good correlation with CHSmax and with CHSnormal at all resistances apart from 2 kg. FBRT should not be applied as a test, nor to be used for the calculation of the force- velocity profile since it is not valid, even though it is reliable. since it is not valid, even though it is reliable. As a result, FBRT could only be used for exercise and needs further development to improve its validity. / <p>While only my name is featured on the title page of this thesis, it reached its final stage with the guidance and support of many others. I thank my primary supervisor, Ann Bremander and James Parker whom, with their professional guidance, helped complete this thesis.</p>

Vu le caractère non-invasif des procédures d’électrophysiologie interventionnelle, la visualisation de régions anatomiques d'intérêt et une orientation adéquate en cours de procédure sont nécessaires. L'objectif de cette thèse est d'étudier, d'optimiser et d'étendre l’utilisation des modalités d'imagerie radiographique. La dose de radiation effective (ED) est calculée d’une façon spécifique au patient pour l’angiographie rotationnelle 3D (3DRA) et il est démontré qu'en ajustant l’acquisition en 3DRA et en fluoroscopie, une réduction de dose importante est possible sans compromettre la qualité d’image nécessaire à la procédure. Un protocole d'acquisition et post traitement pour obtenir une imagerie dynamique basée sur le 3DRA est présenté,permettant une réduction du bruit d'image et une segmentation d'images automatique. L'extraction d'informations dynamiques, structurelles et fonctionnelles à partir d'images MDCT, relatives à la gestion de la fibrillation auriculaire (FA) est étudiée. La fonction auriculaire globale est examinée et des cartes de mouvement régional et de tissu adipeux épicardique sont produites et liés à la FA à différents stades. Une méthode automatisée est présentée pour mesurer l’orifice de l’appendice auriculaire gauche au long du cycle cardiaque et pour optimiser le déploiement de dispositifs de fermeture. Optimiser l’usage des rayons X, les protocoles d'acquisition et les méthodes de post traitement d’images, permet d’obtenir des informations supplémentaires pertinentes aux procédures d'électrophysiologie interventionnelle depuis les modalités d'imagerie radiographiques sans compromettre la qualité d’image ou le flux de travail procédural. / Due to their non-invasive character, interventional electro physiological procedures require visualisation of anatomical regions of interest and adequate guidance of procedural manoeuvres. The aim of this thesis was to study, optimise and expand the use of radiographic imaging modalities. The first part focuses on the influence of C-arm system image acquisition parameters on radiation dose incurred by the patient. We developed a patient-specific way to calculate effective dose (ED) in 3Drotational angiography (3DRA) and showed in 3DRA and fluoroscopy that by applying adequate protocol adjustments, an important dose reduction could be obtained without compromising necessary image quality. The second part focuses on the development and validation of an acquisition and post-processing protocol for dynamic imaging using 3DRA. This method enables automatic image noise reduction and image segmentation. The third part focuses on the extraction of dynamic,structural and functional information from MDCT images, relevant to management of atrial fibrillation (AF). We studied atrial function and generated maps of regional atrial motion and epicardial adipose tissue and related them to AF burden. We also developed an automated method to measure LA appendage orifice dimensions through out the cardiac cycle to optimise measurements for deployment of closure devices.Overall we demonstrate that by optimising radiation usage, acquisition protocols and image post-processing methods, additional information relevant to interventional electrophysiological procedures can be extracted from radiographic imaging modalities without compromising image quality or procedural workflow.

L'optimisation des rotors d'hélicoptère, tant en termes de forme, de structure interne, ou de performance aérodynamique conduit à explorer de nouveaux types de design pour les pales. L'emploi massif de matériaux composites, le recours à des formes courbes et non plus simplement droites ou encore l'ajustement du vrillage aérodynamique font partie des pistes explorées. Ces nouveaux concepts de pales font apparaitre des comportements élastiques complexes où la torsion, la flexion et l'allongement axial viennent se coupler entre eux. L'étude de ces couplages est réalisée dans le repère tournant afin de pouvoir y intégrer tous les effets inhérents à la rotation des pales. Un élément fini de poutre droite non-linéaire et haute précision est formulé dans ce mémoire afin de répondre aux besoins de modélisation tant pour la prédiction des déformations quasi-statiques sous charge aérodynamique et centrifuge que pour la réalisation d'études dynamiques et de stabilité sur les pales. Le modèle a pour but d'être implémenté dans un code de calcul global de simulation d'hélicoptère et se doit donc de proposer un compromis acceptable entre la précision, la robustesse et le temps de calcul. La validation du modèle proposé s'appuie sur des études analytiques, numériques et expérimentales. La grande précision de l'élément fini proposé est démontrée sur des pales de dernière génération. Il est maintenant attendu que le couplage de ce modèle élastique avec les modèles aérodynamiques les plus avancés permette d'améliorer sensiblement la précision des outils de simulation, en particulier lors de l'étude de phénomènes instables dont la maitrise est indispensable au vol de l'hélicoptère. / Structural, shape and performances optimization in helicopter rotor leads to design composite blades initially curved and twisted. This design yields a highly coupled behavior between torsion, longitudinal and bending motions of blades. Besides, dynamic studies of blades have to be performed in the rotational frame, so that all rotatory effects could be siezed by the modeling. A highly accurate non-linear straight beam finite element is proposed to predict the static deformation under aerodynamic and centrifugal loads and achieve dynamic and stability analysis. This elastic model is to be implemented in a comprehensive rotorcraft analysis code, which means accuracy, reliability and calculation time compromise. Model validation is based on analytical, numerical and experimental investigations. The developed model reveals to be very accurate for new blade design including important twist angle and initially curved shape. It is expected to improve prediction quality for full helicopter simulation tools, undergoing strong coupling with advanced aerodynamic model

Weak intermolecular interactions have very strong impact on the structures and properties of life giving molecules like H2O, DNA, RNA etc. These interactions are responsible for many biological phenomena. The directional preference of some of these interactions is used for designing different synthetic approaches in the supramolecular chemistry. The work reported in this Thesis comprises of investigations of weak intermolecular interactions in gas phase using home-built Pulsed Nozzle Fourier Transform Microwave (PN-FTMW) spectrometer as an experimental tool and ab-initio and Atoms in Molecules (AIM) theory as theoretical tools. The spectrometer which is coupled with a pulsed nozzle is used to record pure rotational spectra of the molecular clusters in a jet cooled molecular beam. In the molecular beam molecules/complexes are free from interactions with other molecules/complexes and thus, spectroscopy in the molecular beams provides information about the 'isolated' molecule/complex under investigation. The rotational spectra of the molecules/complexes in the molecular beam provide their geometry in the ground vibrational states. These experimental geometries can be used to test the performance and accuracy of theoretical models like ab-initio theory, when applied to the weakly bound complexes. Further the AIM theory can be used to gain insights into the nature and strength of the intermolecular interactions present in the system under investigation. Chapter I of this Thesis gives a brief introduction of intermolecular interactions. Other than hydrogen bonding, which is considered as the most important intermolecular interaction, many other intermolecular interactions involving different atoms have been observed in past few decades. The chapter summarizes all these interactions. The chapter also gives a brief introduction to the experimental and theoretical methods used to probe these interactions. In Chapter II, the experimental and theoretical methods used in this work are summarized. Details of our home-built PN-FTMW spectrometer are given in this chapter. The chapter also discusses briefly the theoretical methods like ab-initio, AIM and Natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis. We have made few changes in the mode of control of one of our delay generators which have also been described. Chapter III and Chapter V of this Thesis are dedicated to the propargyl alcohol complexes. Propargyl alcohol (PA) is a molecule of astrophysical interest. It is also important in combustion chemistry since propargyl radical is considered as the precursor in soot formation. Moreover, PA is a multifunctional molecule, having a hydroxyl (-OH) and an acetylenic (-C≡C-H) group. Both of the groups can individually act as hydrogen bond acceptor as well as donor and thus PA provides an exciting possibility of studying many different types of weak interactions. Due to internal motion of -OH group, PA monomer can exist in gauche as well as trans form. However, rotational spectra of PA-monomer show the presence of only gauche conformer. In Chapter III, rotational spectra of Ar•••PA complex are discussed. The pure rotational spectra of the parent Ar•••PA complex and its two deuterated isotopologues, Ar•••PA-D (OD species) and Ar•••PA-D (CD species), could be observed and fitted within experimental uncertainty. The structural fitting confirmed a structure in which PA is present as gauche conformer and argon interacts with both the O-H group and the acetylenic group leading to Ar•••H-O and Ar•••π interactions respectively. Presence of these interactions was further confirmed by AIM theoretical analysis. In all the three isotopologues c-type rotational transitions showed significant splitting. Splitting patterns in the three isotopologues suggest that it originates mainly due to the large amplitude motion of the hydroxyl group and the motion is weakly coupled with the carbon chain bending motion. No evidence for the complex with trans conformer of PA was found. Although, we could not observe Ar•••trans-PA complex experimentally, we decided to perform ab-initio and AIM theoretical calculations on this complex as well. AIM calculations suggested the presence of Ar•••H-O and a unique Ar•••C interaction in this complex which was later found to be present in the Ar•••methanol complex as well. This prompted us to explore different possible interactions in methanol, other than the well known O-H•••O hydrogen bonding interactions, and eventually led us to an interesting interaction which we termed as carbon bond. Chapter IV discusses carbon bonding interaction in different complexes. Electrostatic potential (ESP) calculations show that tetrahedral face of methane is electron-rich and thus can act as hydrogen/halogen bond acceptor. This has already been observed in many complexes, e.g. CH4•••H2O/HF/HCl/ClF etc., both experimentally and theoretically. However, substitution of one of the hydrogens of methane with -OH leads to complete reversal of the properties of the CH3 tetrahedral face and this face in methanol is electron-deficient. We found that CH3 face in methanol interacts with electron rich sites of HnY molecules and leads to the formation of complexes stabilized by Y•••C-X interactions. This interaction was also found to be present in the complexes of many different CH3X (X=OH/F/Cl/Br/NO2/NF2 etc.) molecules. AIM, NBO and C-X frequency shift analyses suggest that this interaction could be termed as "carbon bond". The carbon bonding interactions could be important in understanding hydrophobic interactions and thus could play an important role in biological phenomena like protein folding. The carbon bonding interaction could also play a significant role in the stabilization of the transition state in SN2 reactions. In Chapter V of this Thesis rotational spectra of propargyl alcohol dimer are discussed. Rotational spectra of the parent dimer and its three deuterated (O-D) isotopologues (two mono-substituted and one bi-substituted) could be recorded and fitted within experimental uncertainty. The fitted rotational constants are close to one of the ab-initio predicted structure. In the dimer also propargyl alcohol exists in the gauche form. Atoms in molecules analysis suggests that the experimentally observed dimer is bound by O-H•••O, O-H•••π and C-H•••π interactions. Chapter VI of the thesis explores the 'electrophore concept'. To observe the rotational spectra of any species and determine its rotational constant by microwave spectroscopy, the species should have a permanent dipole moment. Can we obtain rotational constants of a species having no dipole moment via microwave spectroscopy? Electrophore concept can be used for this purpose. An electrophore is an atom or molecule which could combine with another molecule having no dipole moment thereby forming a complex with a dipole moment, e.g. Argon atom is an electrophore in Ar•••C6H6 complex. The microwave spectra of Ar•••13CC5H6 and Ar•••C6H5D complexes were recorded and fitted. The A rotational constant of these complexes was found to be equal to the C rotational constant of 13CC5H6 and C6H5D molecules respectively and thus we could determine the C rotational constant of microwave 'inactive' 13CC5H6. This concept could be used to obtain the rotational spectra of parallel displaced benzene-dimer if it exists. We recently showed that the square pyramidal Fe(CO)5 can act as hydrogen bond acceptor. Appendix I summarizes the extension of this work and discusses interactions of trigonal bipyramidal Fe(CO)5 with HF, HCl, HBr and ClF. Our initial attempts on generating a chirped pulse to be used in a new broadband spectrometer are summarized in Appendix II. Preliminary investigations on the propargyl•••water complex are summarized in Appendix III.

The importance of weak interactions between molecules to life and all parts of science and engineering is unquestionable and there have been an enormous interest in such interactions. Among all the weak interactions, hydrogen bonding is the most popular and it has enjoyed the most attention of the scientific community. Halogen bonding is gaining more popularity in the recent time, as its importance to biological molecules and crystal engineering has been recognized. In this work, a Pulsed Nozzle Fourier Transform Microwave spectrometer has been used to study the rotational spectra of molecules and hydrogen bonded complexes. Structural information is obtained from the rotational spectra. Ab initio electronic structure, Natural Bond Orbital (NBO) and Atoms in Molecules (AIM) theoretical methods have been used to characterize the weak intermolecular interactions, including hydrogen bonding, halogen bonding and lithium bonding. In Chapter I, introduction to weak interaction is discussed. A brief introduction of different experimental and theoretical methods is presented. Chapter II discusses in detail about the different methods used to investigate weak interaction, both experimentally and theoretically, in this work. In our lab, we use Pulsed Nozzle Fourier Transform Microwave spectrometer to determine the complexes spectra and structures. We generate MW radiation with the help of electronic devices and use Balle-Flygare cavity where molecular interaction takes place. We inject the sample inside the cavity in form of supersonic molecular beam through a pulsed nozzle, parallel to MW radiation. The detailed instrumental discussion about MW spectrometer has been done in this Chapter. We extensively use theoretical methods to probe weak bonding and characterize them. Ab initio and DFT calculations are used to optimize the structure of the complexes and predict their rotational spectra. Atoms in Molecules theory and Natural Bond Orbital theory are then used with the ab initio wave functions to understand the weak interactions in depth. Discussion about these methods and software used for the analysis will also be discussed. In Chapter III, rotational spectrum of Hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP) monomer is presented. HFIP is an interesting molecule as it offers many possibilities as hydrogen bond donor and acceptor. It has the OH group which can both accept/donate a hydrogen bond and in addition it has a very acidic CH group. It is the only solvent that can dissolve polyethylene terephthalate, a normally difficult-to-dissolve polymer, and clearly it has unique interactions with this difficult to solve polymer. We have recorded and fitted rotational spectra of five different isotopologues of HFIP which helped us in determining its accurate structure. Though, it can exist in synclinical and antiperiplanar conformers, only the later has been detected in our molecular beam spectrometer. This happens to be the global minimum structure of HFIP. Combination of experimental observations and ab initio calculations provided many evidences which confirmed the presence of antiperiplanar conformer, experimentally. Since, the rotational constants for both conformers were very close, it was always challenging to pick up one conformer as experimentally observed structure. A prototype molecule, hexafluoroisobutene (HFIB) shows doubling of rotational transitions due to tunnelling/counter rotation of the two CF3 groups through a small barrier. Interestingly, such motion has no barrier in HFIP and hence no splitting in transitions was observed. Potential energy surface calculated for counter-rotation of the two CF3 groups is consistent with this observation. This barrier is different from eclipsed-staggered exchange barrier, observed by 60 counter rotation of both terminal CF3 groups, for which the barrier height is very large and tunnelling cannot occur. The origin/lack of the small barrier in HFIB/HFIP has been explored using Natural Bond Orbital (NBO) method which helped in understanding intramolecular bonding in these molecules. Along with HFIB, other prototype molecules were also considered for the analysis e.g. hexafluoroacetone, hexafluoroacetone imine, hexafluoroisobutane, hexafluoroisopropylamine. In the last section of this Chapter, we have discussed the generalized behaviour of molecules which have CF3-C-CF3 groups. In Chapter IV, rotational spectrum of HFIP•••H2O complex is presented. Aqueous solution of HFIP stabilizes α-helical structure of protein, a unique property of this solvent. The main objective of this Chapter is understanding the interaction between HFIP and H2O. Microwave spectrum of HFIP•••H2O was predicted and recorded. Three isotopologues were investigated. Though, this complex could in principle have several structural conformers, detailed ab initio calculations predicted two conformers and only one was observed. Though, the rotational constants for both structures were somewhat similar, lack of a dipole transitions, larger intensity of b-dipole transitions over c-dipole transitions and isotopic substitution analysis positively confirm the structure in which HFIP acts as the hydrogen bond donor. The linear O-H•••O hydrogen bond in HFIP-H2O complex is significantly stronger than that in water dimer with the H•••O distance of 1.8 Å. The other structure for this complex, not found in experiment is cyclic with both C-H•••O and O-H•••O hydrogen bonds, both of which are bent with H•••O distances in the range 2.2-2.3 Å. Both AIM and NBO calculations have been used to characterize the hydrogen bond in this complex. In Chapter V, a comprehensive study on hydrogen bonding, chlorine bonding and lithium bonding have been done. A typical hydrogen bonded complex can be represented as A•••H-D, where A is the acceptor unit and H-D is the hydrogen bond donor unit. Many examples are known in literature, both experimentally and theoretically, in which the A-H-D bond angles are not linear. Deviation from linearity also results in the increase in A•••H bond lengths, as noted above for the two structures of HFIP•••H2O complex. Though this has been known for long, the distance between A and D being less than the sum of their van der Waals ‘radii’ is still used as a criterion for hydrogen bonding by many. Our group has recently shown the inappropriateness of van der Waals ‘radii’ and defined hydrogen bond ‘radii’ for various donors, DH and A. A strong correlation of DH hydrogen bond ‘radii’ with the dipole moment was noted. In this Chapter, we explored in detail the angular dependence of hydrogen bond ‘radii’. Electron density topology around DH (D = F, Cl and OH) has been analyzed in detail and shown to be elliptical. For these molecules, the two constants for H atom treated as an ellipse have been determined. It is hoped that these two constants will be used widely in analyzing and interpreting H•••A distances, as a function of D-H•••A angles, rather than one ‘radius’ for H and acceptor atoms. In Chapter VI, Detailed analysis and comparisons among hydrogen bond, chlorine bond and lithium bond, have been done. Hydrogen can be placed in group 1 as well as group 17 of the periodic table. Naturally, lithium bonding and halogen bonding have been proposed and investigated. There have been numerous investigations on the nature of hydrogen bonding and the physical forces contributing to it. In this Chapter, a total of one hundred complexes having H/Cl/Li bonding have been investigated using ab initio, AIM and NBO theoretical methods. Various criteria proposed in the literature have been examined. A new criterion has been proposed for the characterization of closed shell (ionic/electrostatic) and open shell (covalent) interactions. It has been well known that the D-H bond weakens on the D-H•••A hydrogen bond formation and H•••A bond acquires a fractional covalency. This Chapter shows that for D-Li•••A complexes, the ionicity in D-Li is reduced as the Li•••A bond is formed This comprehensive investigation of H/Cl/Li bonding has led us to propose a conservation of bond order, considering both ionic and covalent contributions to both D-X and X•••A bonds, where DX is the X-bond donor and A is the acceptor with X = H/Cl/Li. Hydrogen bond is well understood and its definition has been recently revised [Arunan et al. Pure Appl. Chem., Vol. 83, pp. 1619–1636, 2011]. It states “The X–H•••Y hydrogen bond angle tends toward 180° and should preferably be above 110°”. Using AIM theory and other methods, this fact is examined and presented in Appendix A. In second part of appendix A, a discussion about calling H3¯ complex as trihydrogen bond and its comparison with FHF¯ complex, is presented. In Appendix B, there is tentative prediction and discussion about the HFIP dimer. Condense phase studies show that HFIP have strong aggregation power to form dimer, trimer etc. During, HFIP monomer study, we have unassigned lines which are suspected to be from HFIP dimer. These are tabulated in the Appendix B as well.

Le sujet de cette thèse concerne l’étude de dynamiques induites par des impulsions lasers femtosecondes intenses. La première dynamique étudiée porte sur l’alignement de la molécule de CO2, pure ou en mélange avec l’argon ou l’hélium, en phase gazeuse dense (jusqu’à 20 bar), ce régime n’ayant jamais été étudié expérimentalement auparavant. L’alignement moléculaire, quand il est induit par une impulsion laser femtoseconde et intense, présente deux contributions qui apparaissent après passage de l’impulsion : un alignement permanent et un alignement transitoire. L’influence des collisions se manifeste alors par des transferts de population entre états rotationnels qui ont pour conséquence de faire décroître ces deux contributions. Le temps de décroissance de l’alignement permanent est seulement lié aux collisions inélastiques tandis que le temps de décroissance de l’alignement transitoire est lié à la fois aux collisions inélastiques et élastiques. Nous montrons alors que la détermination expérimentale de la contribution des collisions élastiques, expérimentalement difficile d’accès, est possible à partir de l’analyse des traces d’alignement moléculaire. Cette analyse se base sur la modélisation des taux de transfert entre états liés aux collisions inélastiques par des lois semi-empiriques du type ECS-(E)P. La contribution élastique des collisions déterminée est en bon accord avec des valeurs calculées selon un modèle classique. La deuxième dynamique étudiée est la dépendance en éclairement de l’effet Kerr électronique. Nous poursuivons alors les travaux menés par Loriot et al. en 2009 qui ont montré que l’indice Kerr électronique saturait avant de s’annuler puis de présenter une contribution négative lorsqu’on augmente l’éclairement (inversion du signe pour quelques dizaines de térawatts par centimètre carré). Nous avons alors étendu cette étude en observant à une longueur d’onde de 400 nm (800 nm dans l’étude originale) cette inversion du signe de l’indice Kerr dans l’air. / This thesis is devoted to the study of dynamics induced by intense femtoseconds lasers pulses. The first studied dynamics deals with molecular alignment of CO2-X mixtures (X=CO2, Ar, N2), in dense gases (up to 20 bar). Up to now, this regime has never been studied experimentally. In the field-free regime (after laser/matter interaction), molecular alignment exhibits two components : a permanent alignment and a transient one. The influence of collisions appears through population transfers between rotational states, which leads to a decrease of these two contributions. Permanent alignment relaxation time is only tied to inelastics collisions whereas transient alignment relaxation time is tied to both inelastics and elastics ones. We show that the determination of the elastic collisions contribution (for which the experimental determination is uneasy), is then possible thanks to the analysis of molecular alignment measurements. This analysis is based on the modelling of inelastics rotational state-to-state transfer rates by ECS-(E)P semi-empirical laws. The elastic contribution of collisions is experimentally determined and happened to be in a good agreement with classically calculated ones. The second studied dynamics is the intensity dependence of the electronic Kerr effect. We pursue the works led by Loriot and al. in 2009 which showed that electronic Kerr index saturated, before nullifying and then presenting a negative contribution when the intensity increases (inversion of the sign for some tens of terawatts by square centimeter). We complete the previous study by performing similar measurements in air at 400 nm (800 nm in the original study).

La thématique de cette thèse est l'alignement moléculaire. Celui-ci est un sujet très important qui ouvre la voie sur un contrôle beaucoup plus fin de nombreux phénomènes. Ainsi, nous avons développé une nouvelle technique de mesure de l’alignement moléculaire suivant un axe et permettant d’en conserver le signe. Celle-ci est, à l’instar des techniques de mesure de l’alignement moléculaire développées dans l’équipe, basée sur la mesure de variation d’indice de réfraction induite par l’alignement moléculaire. La technique développée ensuite permet également la mesure de l’alignement moléculaire, tout en étant aussi une application de celui-ci puisqu’il permet ici la génération de troisième harmonique. L’alignement moléculaire est également mis en oeuvre dans la dernière étude puisque nous montrons qu’il apporte la résolution nécessaire à l’étude de la thermalisation d’un échantillon moléculaire excité / The thematic of this thesis is molecular alignment. The latter is a very important topic that opens the way toward a much more thin control of many phenomenons. So, we have developed a new measurement technique of the molecular alignment along one axis that permits to preserve the sign of alignment. This one is, like other measurement techniques developed by the team,based on the measurement of the refractive index variation induced by the molecular alignment.The technique developed then also permits the molecular alignment measurement, being also an application of it because it allows the third harmonic generation. In the last study, molecular alignment is implemented to show that it brings the necessary resolution for the study of an excited molecular sample thermalization

Dans cette thèse, sur la base de l'approche du mode local "étendu" et de la théorie générale de la substitution isotopique, nous obtenons un ensemble de relations analytiques simples entre les paramètres spectrocopiques (fréquences harmoniques, coefficients d'anharmonicité, paramètres rovibrationels, différents types de paramètres d'interaction de Fermi et de Coriolis) des molécules de CH2D2, CH3D et CHD3. Tous ces paramètres sont exprimés en termes de relations simples à partir des paramètres spectroscopiques de la molécule mère CH4. Des calculs tests avec des relations isotopiques montrent que même sans introduire d'informations majeures sur les espèces isotopiques, les résultats numériques de ces calculs sont en bon accord avec les données expérimentales et les calculs ab initio. A partir de le théorie des opérateurs de perturbation et des propriétés de symétrie des molécules axiales XYZ3 (C3v), nous déterminons des formules générales permettant la détermination des paramètres spectroscopiques sous la forme de fonctions des paramètres structuraux et des paramètres de la fonction potentiel intramoléculaire. Nous présentons aussi une approche permettant la détermination du hamiltonien de molécules polyatomiques qui permet de résoudre le problème de la description de la surface d'énergie potentielle via la construction et la diagonalisation d'une matrice hamiltonienne de grande dimension. / In this thesis, on the base of the "expanded", local mode approach and general isotopic substitution theory we obtain sets of simple analytical relations between spectroscopic parameters (harmonic frequencies, anharmonic coefficients, ro-vibrational parameters, different kinds of Fermi and Coriolis-type interaction parameters) of the CH2D2, CH3D and CHD3 molecules. All of them are expressed as simple functions of spectroscopic parameters of the mother CH4 molecule. Test calculations with the isotopic relations show that even without including prior informations about the isotopic species, numerical results of calculations are in a good agreement both with experimental data and results of ab initio calculations. On the base of operators perturbation theory and the symmetry properties of the axially symmetric XYZ3 (C3v) type molecules, we derive general formulae for the determination of the spectroscopic parameters in the form of functions of structural parameters and parameters of the intramolecular potential function. We present also an approach for determination of the Hamiltonian of polyatomic molecules that allows to solve the problem of potential energy surface determination via the construction and the diagonalization of a Hamiltonian matrix of large dimension.