Browsing by master's degree program "Magisterprogrammet i elementarpartikelfysik och astrofysikaliska vetenskaper"
Now showing items 41-48 of 48
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(2020)The magnetic field of Earth interacts with the supersonic solar wind that emanates from the outer part of the Sun’s atmosphere. The interaction results in the formation of Earth’s magnetosphere with a bow shock and a foreshock upstream of it. Together, they form a complex system that hosts a large number of different phenomena, ranging from aurorae visible with the naked eye from Earth’s surface to magnetic waves and transient structures only observable by spacecraft with in-situ measurements. In addition to spacecraft measurements, numerical simulations performed with computers have become increasingly important in space research with the constantly growing amount of available computing power. The topic of this thesis, two types of transient structures found upstream of the bow shock in the foreshock, cavitons and spontaneous hot flow anomalies (SHFAs), are examples of phenomena that have been discovered and studied with the combination of numerical simulations and spacecraft observations. These transient types are related, as cavitons can evolve into SHFAs. In this thesis, cavitons and SHFAs are studied with the global hybrid-Vlasov simulation Vlasiator. The transients are studied statistically in a global simulation for the first time, granting the largest statistical sample up to date. The approach taken in this study is to track individual transients in time, for which purpose a tracking algorithm was developed as a part of this thesis. With this method, the first detailed investigation of the evolution of cavitons and SHFAs is conducted. The statistical results obtained in this work indicate that cavitons and SHFAs form in a uniform region near the bow shock. There is a distinct distance to the shock within which cavitons can become SHFAs, and it is found that SHFAs can either form independently, or evolve from cavitons. The properties of the transients are found to have some dependence on the transients’ location relative to the bow shock. The propagation velocity of the transients is measured, and is found to agree with prior spacecraft observations.
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(2022)Results from cosmological zoom-in simulations focusing on the formation and evolution of massive early-type galaxies starting from redshift z=50 until the present time are presented in this thesis. In addition, the dynamics of supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries found in a subset of the galaxies as a result of galaxy mergers are studied. The first 12 zoom-in simulations were run with GADGET-3, an N-body hydrodynamical tree code on the Puhti supercomputer at the Finnish IT Centre for Science (CSC). The zoom-in regions were chosen from a low resolution large-volume simulation, run with the University of Helsinki computing cluster Kale. The SMBH binary dynamics were simulated with the regularized integrator code KETJU. In total three simulations using KETJU were run on the CSC supercomputer Mahti. The GADGET-3 simulations included both dark matter only runs and runs containing also baryons. The simulations were run at two different resolutions. No significant differences between the two resolutions were found for the dark matter only runs, whereas the runs including a baryonic component showed large differences. The medium resolution runs had too low particle numbers and too large particle masses to correctly resolve star formation and feedback, leading to rotation curves that missed their central peaks. The results from the high resolution simulations agreed with earlier published results. The rotation curves peak in the central regions of the galaxies with the curves becoming almost constant at large radii. The star formation rates peak in the redshift range z~2-3 and at smaller redshifts star formation can momentarily increase due to the occuring of galaxy mergers. At the present day, all of the studied galaxies include mainly old stellar populations, resulting in red colours for all the galaxies. Still, the galaxy formation efficiency parameter of each galaxy is somewhat higher than what is seen in the observations. Finally, all three SMBH binaries for which the dynamics were studied using KETJU led to a coalescence of the two black holes. The orbital decay of SMBH binaries occur in three phases: dynamical friction, three-body interactions and gravitational wave emission. The merger times strongly depend on the eccentricity of the binaries with the semimajor axis of the binary with the highest eccentricity decreasing the fastest. This is expected from theory, with the evolution from subparsec scales to coalescence agreeing very well with the theoretical evolution taking into account the post-Newtonian correction term 2.5PN, which is the lowest order post-Newtonian term responsible for gravitational wave emission.
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Synthetic Observations of Simulated Clusters : Bridging the Gap between Observations and Simulations (2023)We investigated the connection between the 3D physical properties of stellar clusters and their measured counterparts from their 2D observed images; primarily focusing on the relationship be- tween the 3D half-mass radius (Rh3D) and the effective radius (Rheff) (also known as the 2D half-light radius) of stellar clusters. We generated an ensemble of 3D models of stellar clusters using the McLuster code. This ensemble is made up of subgroups consisting of different stellar counts, half-mass radius, concentration, maximum mass of the initial mass function, and degree of mass segregation. Each subgroup covered a broad range of their respective property in order to provide a comprehensive overview of the Rh3D to Rheff relationship as a function of these variables. Then, utilizing myosotis, we created synthetic observations of these models and investigated how the Rh3D of the cluster could be inferred from the measured Rheff of the synthetic photometric map. Our analysis reveals that for systems where all stars are of equal mass, independent of their size, the half-mass radius is equal to Rh3D ≈ 1/α Rheff where α ∼ 0.76. We show that the value of α can be inferred by a geometric relationship. We also find that this relationship holds for systems with varying values of concentration. For unsegregated systems of unequal stellar masses, we observe that the value of α oscillates around 0.76, with the amplitude of the oscillations increasing as the maximum mass of the system increases. As Rh3D by construction does not change, the only parameter to cause this variation in α is the Rheff . When we looked at mass segregated systems, we found that the value of Rheff (and similarly α) decreases generally monotonically as a function of the degree of the segregation. The presence of stars of unequal mass is the dominant factor that determines the measurements of Rheff , beyond the geometric effects of projection. The prevalence of this factor is attributed to the non-linear relationship between mass and luminosity that results in a few tens of massive stars greatly influencing the overall luminosity of the cluster, and therefore, its effective radius.
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(2021)This thesis presents the results from seventeen collisionless merger simulations of massive early-type galaxies in an effort to understand the coalescence of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in the context of the Final Parsec Problem. A review of the properties of massive early-type galaxies and their SMBHs is presented alongside a discussion on SMBH binary coalescence to motivate the initial conditions used in the simulations. The effects of varying SMBH mass and stellar density profiles in the progenitor initial conditions on SMBH coalescence was investigated. Differing mass resolutions between the stellar particles and the SMBHs for each physical realisation were also tested. The simulations were performed on the supercomputers Puhti and Mahti at CSC, the Finnish IT Centre for Science. SMBH coalescence was found to only occur in mergers involving SMBH binaries of equal mass, with the most rapid coalescence observed in galaxies with a steep density profile. In particular, the eccentricity of the SMBH binary was observed to be crucial for coalescence: all simulations that coalesced displayed an orbital eccentricity in excess of e=0.7 for the majority of the time for which the binary was bound. Simulations of higher mass resolution were found to have an increased number of stellar particles able to positively interact with the SMBH binary to remove orbital energy and angular momentum, driving the binary to coalescence. The gravitational wave emission from an equal mass SMBH binary in the final stages before merging was calculated to be within the detection limits required for measurement by pulsar timing arrays. Mergers between galaxies of unequal mass SMBHs were unable to undergo coalescence irrespective of mass resolution or progenitor density profile, despite the binary in some of these simulations displaying a high orbital eccentricity. It was determined that the stellar particles interacting with the SMBH binary were unable to remove the required orbital energy and angular momentum to bring the SMBHs to within the separation required for efficient gravitational wave emission. A trend between increasing mass resolution and increasing number of stellar particles able to remove energy from the SMBH binary was observed across all the simulation suites. This observation is of paramount importance, as three-body interactions are essential in removing orbital energy and angular momentum from the SMBH binary, thus overcoming the Final Parsec Problem. As such, it is concluded that the Final Parsec Problem is a numerical artefact arising from insufficient mass resolution between the stellar particles and the SMBHs rather than a physical phenomenon.
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(2024)This thesis studies gas-rich galaxy mergers at redshifts of z ∼ 1-2 using numerical simulations, with a particular focus on the effect of feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGNs). In total, 16 galaxy mergers at redshifts z = 1 and z = 2 were modeled using the simulation codes KETJU and GADGET-3. The simulations were performed on the supercomputer Mahti located at the Finnish IT Centre for Science (CSC). AGN feedback can be described as the radiative and mechanical energy released through accretion, which act to heat and disperse the remaining gaseous material surrounding the central supermassive black hole (SMBH). The feedback mechanisms include, for example, photoionization heating due to high-energy photons and winds and jets driven by the AGN. Numerically, AGN feedback was implemented using two models in this thesis: thermal and kinetic AGN feedback, in which the gas particles are either heated or ‘kicked’, respectively. In addition to AGN feedback, the simulations included metal-dependent gas cooling, stochastic star formation, and stellar feedback. The simulated progenitor galaxies were gas-rich spirals consistent with observed galaxies at redshifts z = 1 and z = 2. The virial masses of the progenitors were set to correspond to typical massive galaxies at their redshifts using the Press-Schechter mass function, while the initial masses for the central SMBHs were set using observed MBH-M⋆ and MBH-σ⋆ relations. The gas fractions and metal abundances of the progenitors were calibrated using observational data at their respective redshifts. The KETJU and GADGET-3 simulations produced very similar results for the overall evolution of a given merger configuration. Consistent with earlier studies, the kinetic feedback was observed to be significantly more effective at removing gas from the galaxies than the thermal feedback. The combined effect of AGN and stellar feedback was observed to strongly suppress star formation, with the star formation of one merger being almost completely shut down. The thermal and kinetic feedback models caused noticeable differences in the orbital evolution of the SMBH binaries. Merger timescales were significantly longer for the SMBHs in the KETJU simulations with kinetic feedback. In general, the merger timescales increased with decreasing initial eccentricity for the SMBH binary. The merger remnants were compared to observed MBH-σ⋆, R1/2-M⋆, fgas-M⋆, and mass-metallicity relations. Overall, the remnants were reasonably consistent with the observed relations. Hence, we can conclude that AGN feedback plays a crucial role in galaxy evolution and that both the thermal and kinetic feedback models are able to produce realistic high-redshift galaxies.
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(2021)Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are large-scale eruptions of plasma entrained in a magnetic field. They occur in the solar corona, and from there they propagate into interplanetary space along with the solar wind. If a CME travels faster than the surrounding solar wind, a shock wave forms. Shocks driven by CMEs can act as powerful accelerators of charged particles. When charged particles like electrons are accelerated, they emit electromagnetic radiation, especially in the form of radio waves. Much of the radio emission from CMEs comes in the form of solar radio bursts. Traditionally solar radio bursts are classified into five types, called type I–V bursts, based on their characteristics and appearance in a dynamic spectrum. Of these five types of bursts, especially type II radio bursts are believed to be signatures of shock waves in the corona and interplanetary space. There are, however, also radio bursts associated with CMEs and shocks that do not fit the description of any of the five standard types of radio bursts. In this thesis three moving radio bursts associated with a CME that erupted on May 22, 2013 are identified and studied in detail. The characteristics of the bursts do not match those of the usual five types of solar radio bursts. The aim of the work is to ascertain the emission mechanism that causes the observed radio bursts, as well as locate the sites of electron acceleration that are the sources of the emission. The kinematics and the spectral features of the emission are studied in order to find answers to these questions. Analysis of the spectral features of the moving bursts showed that the bursts were emitted via plasma emission. Analysis of the kinematics revealed that the moving radio bursts originated unusually high up in the corona from the northern flank of the CME. The CME studied in this work was preceded by another one which erupted some hours earlier, and the disturbed coronal environment likely caused the radio emission to be emitted from an unusual height. It was found that the bursts likely originated from electrons accelerated at the shock driven by the CME.
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(2023)The aim of this study is to inspect fluctuations in the solar wind magnetic field for four different types of solar wind time series. The events considered are fast and slow solar wind, along with magnetic clouds and sheath regions, which are found in coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Time series measurements of these processes are analysed using methods from Information Theory and Complex Network Analysis. The techniques that are used here are the Fisher-Shannon information plane, the Jensen-Shannon complexity-entropy plane, and Horizontal Visibility Graph Analysis. Statistical and information theory measures as well as network analysis have recently been applied to studying time series in an attempt to determine their internal structure. There is promising research into these methods quantifying data as either chaotic, stochastic, or periodic. Knowing whether a process has e.g. a deterministic origin could shed light on the creation of said process. Applying these methods to solar wind, more information could be found about its formation at the Sun. In general, the solar wind data analysed in this thesis was found to be stochastic, which agrees with previous studies. In addition, when analysing magnetic field magnitude B, magnetic clouds appear to have more internal structure in the time series signal than the other types of solar wind data tested. The results obtained here are promising in terms of finding differences in structure within solar wind, and could be investigated further with the use of more solar wind data.
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(2023)The high luminosity upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will result in higher collision rates and current equipment is not up to par with this future era of operations. Identification and reconstruction of hard interactions may be hampered by the spatial overlapping of particle tracks and energy deposits from additional collisions and this often leads to false triggers. In addition, current particle detectors suffer from radiation damage that severely affects the accuracy of our results. The new minimum ionizing particle (MIP) timing detector will be equipped with low gain avalanche detectors which have a comparably small timing resolution that helps with the track reconstruction and their thin design limits the radiation damage over time. In this thesis, we build an experimental set-up in order to study the timing resolution of these detectors closely. In order to find the timing resolution, we take the time difference between the signals from two detectors and put it in a histogram to which we apply a Gaussian fit. The standard deviation of this Gaussian is called the time spread from which we can estimate the timing resolution. We first build, characterize and improve our experimental set-up using reference samples with known timing resolution until our set-up is able to reproduce the reference value. Then we repeat the measurements with irradiated samples in order to study how radiation damage impacts timing. We were able to adjust our setup with reference samples until we measured a timing resolution of 33$\pm$2~ps. We use this result to calculate the timing resolution of an irradiated sample ($8.0 \times 10^{14}$ proton fluence) and we found a timing resolution of 62$\pm$2~ps. This thesis also discusses the analysis of the data and how the data can be re-analyzed to try to improve the final result.
Now showing items 41-48 of 48