Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Techn. University, Diss., 2005--München.

We used the near-infrared [Fe II] emission line signature to detect supernova remnants (SNRs) in the nearby starburst galaxies NGC 1569, NGC 3738 and NGC 5253. The near-infrared narrow-band imaging program has led to the detection of 10 SNR candidates in NGC 1569, 7 in NGC 5253, and none in NGC 3738. A spatially extended component to the [Fe II] line emission is observed in NGC 1569 and NGC 5253. This component dominates the integrated [Fe II] luminosity in both galaxies, the compact sources accounting for 14% and 7% of the total [Fe II] luminosity of NGC 1569 and NGC 5253, respectively. Despite the starburst environment, the [Fe II] luminosity of the individual SNRs is two orders of magnitude lower than the luminosities observed for SNRs in M82. We find that the density and the structure of the interstellar medium is a more important factor than the starburst nature of a galaxy in determining the average [Fe II] luminosity of a SNR. We caution against the blind usage of supernova rate vs. [Fe II] luminosity relations, which are most often calibrated with the average luminosity of the remnants in M82. We suggest that a significant fraction of the ISM in NGC 1569 and NGC 5253 is under the influence of SNRs. This does not appear to be the case in M82, where the impact of the SNRs is limited to high density knots. Also, we find evidence for an [Fe II]-emitting lifetime as long as 105 yrs, which contrasts with the 104 yrs derived from SNRs in M82-like galaxies. We find that the [Fe II] morphology, and the integrated luminosity observed in our sample galaxies, can be reproduced from a [Fe II]-emitting SNR population, as long as the pre-shock density is kept as low as 1 cm −3. Higher pre-shock density models are strongly rejected. We find a supernova rate of 0.006 SN/yr for NGC 1569 and 0.005 SN/yr for NGC 5253. / Graduate

Orientador: Adriano Antônio Natale / Banca: José Ricardo Marinelli / Banca: Fernando Mori / Resumo: Neste trabalho, investigamos a viabilidade do mecanismo de pólo do píon ('gama"gama"seta"'pi'POT.0"seta"niu"niu'BARRA') como mecanismo alternativo para o resfriamento do núcleo estelar de estrelas de alta massa durante o processo de colapso gravitacional. Em especial, concentramos nossa atenção no vínculo para a luminosidade de neutrinos emitidos pela supernova SN1987A. Mostramos que ao incorporar os efeitos do meio nuclear denso no propagador piônico através da eoria de Migdal para sistemas fermiônicos finitos, o mecanismo de pólo do píon é suprimido e que por causa diss não conseguimos obter nenhum vínculo significativo para o decaimento do píon em neutrinos. / Abstracts: In this work, we investigate the viability of the pion pole mechanism ('gama"gama"seta"'pi'POT.0"seta"niu"niu'BARRA') as an alternative mechanism for the cooling of stellar nucleus of massive stars during the gravitational collapse. In particular we concentrate our attention on a possible constrain on the neutrino's luminosity from the supernova SN1987A. We show that incorporating the effects of the dense nuclear medium througt the Migdal's theory for finite fermionic systems in the pion propagator, the pion pole mechanism is supressed and we cannot obtain any meaningful constrain for the pion decay into neutrinos. / Mestre

Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are currently the best probe of the expansion history of the universe. Their usefulness is due chiefly to their uniformity between supernovae (SNe). However, there are some slight variations amongst SNe that have yet to be understood and accounted for. The goal of this work is to uncover relationships between the spectral features and the light curve decline rate, [delta]m₁₅. Wavelet decomposition has been used to develop a new spectral index to measure spectral line strengths independent of the continuum and easily corrected for noise. This new method yields consistent results without the arbitrary uncertainties introduced by current methods and is particularly useful for spectra which do not have a clearly defined continuum. These techniques are applied to SN Ia spectra and correlations are found between the spectral features and light curve decline rate. The wavelet spectral indexes are used to measure the evolution of spectral features which are characterized by 3 or 4 parameters for the most complicated evolution. The three absorption features studied here are associated with sulfur and silicon and all show a transition in strength between 1 to 2 weeks after B-band maximum. Pearson correlation coefficients between spectral features and [delta]m₁₅ are found to be significant within a week of maximum brightness and 3 to 4 weeks post-maximum. These correlations are used to determine the principal components at each epoch among the set of SN spectra in this work. The variation contained in the first principal component (PC1) is found to be greater than 60% to 70% for most epochs and reaching as high as 80% to 90% for epochs with the highest correlations. The same first principal component can be used to relate spectral feature strengths to the decline rate. These relations were used to estimate a SN light curve decline rate from a set of spectra taken over the course of the explosion, from a single spectrum, or from even a single spectral feature. These relationships could be used for future surveys to estimate spectral characteristics from light curve data, such as photometric redshift.

This thesis studies the relationship between type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) and their host galaxies. The sample consists of 527 SNe Ia with redshift z<0.09 discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF). We obtained high-quality photometric and spectroscopic data of the host galaxies and determined their stellar mass M_stellar, star formation rate (SFR), gas-phase/stellar metallicity, stellar age and SN offset. In the first part of the analysis, we compare the SN Ia photometric properties to the host parameters. Strong correlations between the SN Ia light-curve width (stretch) and the host age/mass/metallicity are found: fainter, faster-declining events tend to be hosted by older/massive/metal-rich galaxies. There is also some evidence that redder SNe Ia explode in higher metallicity galaxies. SNe Ia in higher-mass/metallicity galaxies also appear brighter after stretch/colour corrections than their counterparts in lower mass hosts, and the stronger correlation is with gas-phase metallicity suggesting this may be the more important variable. We also compare the host stellar mass distribution to that in galaxy targeted SN surveys and the high-redshift untargeted Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS). The difference between each stellar mass distribution can be explained by an evolution in the galaxy stellar mass function, coupled with a SN delay-time distribution proportional to t^-1. Finally, we found no significant difference in the mass-metallicity relation of our SN Ia hosts compared to field galaxies, suggesting any metallicity effect on the SN Ia rate is small. In the second part of the analysis, we compare the SN spectral features to the host parameters. We find that SNe Ia with higher Si ii λ6355 velocities tend to explode in more massive galaxies. We study the strength of the high-velocity component of the Ca ii NIR absorption, and find that SNe Ia with a stronger high-velocity component are preferentially hosted by galaxies with a low M_stellar, a blue colour, and a high SFR, and are therefore likely to arise from the youngest progenitor systems. When combined with other studies, our results support the scenario that these high-velocity features are related to an interaction between the SN ejecta and a circumstellar medium (CSM) local to the SN.

Extensions to general relativity are often considered as possibilities in the quest for a quantum theory of gravity on one hand, or to resolve anomalies within cosmology on the other. Scalar fields, found in many areas of physics, are frequently studied in this context. This is partly due to their manifestation in the effective four dimensional theory of a number of underlying fundamental theories, most notably string theory. This thesis is concerned with the effects of scalar fields on cosmological and black hole solutions. By comparison, an analysis of an inhomogeneous cosmological model which requires no extensions to general relativity is also undertaken. In chapter three, examples of numerical solutions to black hole solutions, which have previously been shown to be linearly stable, are found. The model includes at least two scalar fields, non-minimally coupled to electromagnetism and hence possesses non-trivial contingent primary hair. We show that the extremal solutions have finite temperature for an arbitrary coupling constant. Chapter four investigates the effects of higher order curvature corrections and scalar fields on the late-time cosmological evolution. We find solutions which mimic many of the phenomenological features seen in the post-inflation Universe. The effects due to non-minimal scalar couplings to matter are also shown to be negligible in this context. Such solutions can be shown to be stable under homogeneous perturbations. Some restrictions on the value of the slope of the scalar coupling to the Gauss-Bonnet term are found to be necessary to avoid late-time superluminal behaviour and dominant energy condition violation. A number of observational tests are carried out in chapter five on a new approach to averaging the inhomogeneous Universe. In this "Fractal Bubble model" cosmic acceleration is realised as an apparent effect, due to quasilocal gravitational energy gradients. We show that a good fit can be found to three separate observations, the type Ia supernovae, the baryon acoustic oscillation scale and the angular scale of the sound horizon at last scattering. The best fit to the supernovae data is χ² ≃ 0:9 per degree of freedom, with a Hubble parameter at the present epoch of H0 = 61:7+1:4 -1:3 km sec⁻¹ Mpc⁻¹ , and a present epoch volume void fraction of 0:76 ± 0:05.

Using two techniques not previously applied to Cassiopeia A (Cas A), we measure the reddening toward its expansion center. An estimate of AV from the near-IR [Fe II] lines is hampered by uncertain atomic data, though the spatial variation in their flux ratio allows relative measurement of the extinction in regions without previous optical estimates. We use a second technique based on the broad-band IR shape of the synchrotron emission, and find Aᵥ = 6.2 ± 0.6 for a knot 13" from the expansion center. Assuming a plausible lower limit on the apparent magnitude of the SN in outburst, the ⁵⁶Ni yield was 0.058 < M(Ni) < 0.16M⊙. With the ⁴⁴Ti mass from published gamma-ray observations, this implies a ⁴⁴Ca/ ⁵⁶Fe ratio consistent with the solar abundance. Recently published Spitzer Space Telescope IRS observations detect dust and line emission from cold gas interior to Cas A’s reverse shock. Using simple physical arguments and new hydrodynamic, non-equilibrium photoionization calculations, we infer the physical conditions in this material. We find that the mid-IR bright clumps are photoionized by the SNR shocks, over-dense relative to the expected average in the interior of the remnant, and have abundances consistent with incomplete oxygen burning. The lack of detectable iron lines indicates that any Si-burning material still interior to the reverse shock must be far more tenuous than the clumps of O-burning ashes. Finally, we present calculations from a new multi-dimensional hydrodynamics and non-equilibrium ionization and cooling code designed to model the emission from SNR shocks. Two-dimensional simulations of a shock-cloud interaction in a pure-oxygen plasma, with flow parameters relevant to Cas A, show a wider range of temperatures and ionization states than is typical in single-zone or 1D calculations, indicating that fluid and cooling instabilities play a role in producing the observed spectra of radiative shocks in metal-rich gas.

A sample of 9 small-diameter radio sources has been selected from the Molonglo Galactic Plane Survey (MGPS) and observed with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) in the radio recombination line (RRL) at 5 GHz, in a search for young Galactic SNRs. Since the RRL emission is an unambiguous indicator of a thermal source, this method has been used to eliminate HII regions from the selected sample. In addition, the IRAS and MSX infrared data and spectral index measurements have been combined with the RRL studies to distinguish thermal and non-thermal sources in the selected sample. One source (G282.8-1.2) is identified here as a possible new young Galactic supernova remnant, based on its relatively weak infrared emission, steep radio spectrum and possible x-ray emission. However, the ATCA data are inconclusive and further studies are needed to confirm this result. Radio recombination line emission (H107 alpha) has been detected in 3 of the selected sources, eliminating them from the sample of SNR candidates. In addition, the parameters of the RRL emission from the identified HII regions have been used to estimate their properties. The RRL data are inconclusive for the remaining low brightness, extended sources in the sample. However, some of these sources are likely to be thermal HII regions according to the infrared and spectral index data. The selected method for distinguishing thermal and non-thermal Galactic radio sources seems promising. The selected ATCA configuration was appropriate for imaging relatively bright, compact sources, but a slightly modified observing technique is needed to successfully image low surface brightness, extended sources.

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