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Most of the matter in the Universe appears to be in some form which does not emit or absorb light. While evidence for the existence of this dark matter has accumulated over the last seventy years, its nature remains elusive. In this thesis, quasars and low surface brightness galaxies (LSBGs) are used to investigate the properties of the dark matter. Quasars are extremely bright light sources which can be seen over vast distances. These cosmic beacons may be used to constrain dark matter in the form of low-mass, compact objects along the line of sight, as such objects are expected to induce brightness fluctuations in quasars through gravitational microlensing effects. Using a numerical microlensing model, we demonstrate that the uncertainty in the typical size of the optical continuum-emitting region in quasars represents the main obstacle in this procedure. We also show that, contrary to claims in the literature, microlensing fails to explain the observed long-term optical variability of quasars. Here, quasar distances are inferred from their redshifts, which are assumed to stem from the expansion of the Universe. Some astronomers do however defend the view that quasar redshifts could have a different origin. A number of potential methods for falsifying claims of such non-cosmological redshifts are proposed. As the ratio of dark to luminous matter is known to be unusually high in LSBGs, these objects have become the prime targets for probing dark matter halos around galaxies. Here, we use spectral evolutionary models to constrain the properties of the stellar populations in a class of unusually blue LSBGs. Using rotation curve data obtained at the ESO Very Large Telescope, we also investigate the density profiles of their dark halos. We find our measurements to be inconsistent with the predictions of the currently favoured cold dark matter scenario.

We discuss the detailed composition of 28 extremely metal-poor (EMP) dwarfs, 22 of which are from the Hamburg/ESO Survey (HES), based on Keck echelle spectra. Our sample has a median [Fe/H] of -2.7 dex, extends to -3.5 dex, and is somewhat less metal-poor than was expected from [Fe/H](HK, HES) determined from low-resolution spectra. Our analysis supports the existence of a sharp decline in the distribution of halo stars with metallicity below [Fe/H]=-3.0 dex. So far no additional turnoff stars with [Fe/H]<-3.5 have been identified in our follow-up efforts. For the best-observed elements between Mg and Ni, we find that the abundance ratios appear to have reached a plateau, i.e., [X/Fe] is approximately constant as a function of [Fe/H], except for Cr, Mn, and Co, which show trends of abundance ratios varying with [Fe/H]. These abundance ratios at low metallicity correspond approximately to the yield expected from Type II supernovae (SNe) with a narrow range in mass and explosion parameters; high-mass Type II SN progenitors are required. The dispersion of [X/Fe] about this plateau level is surprisingly small and is still dominated by measurement errors rather than intrinsic scatter. These results place strong constraints on the characteristics of the contributing SNe. The dispersion in neutron-capture elements and the abundance trends for Cr, Mn, and Co are consistent with previous studies of evolved EMP stars. We find halo-like enhancements for the α-elements Mg, Ca, and Ti, but solar Si/Fe ratios for these dwarfs. This contrasts with studies of EMP giant stars, which show Si enhancements similar to other α-elements. Sc/Fe is another case where the results from EMP dwarfs and from EMP giants disagree; our Sc/Fe ratios are enhanced compared to the solar value by ~0.2 dex. Although this conflicts with the solar Sc/Fe values seen in EMP giants, we note that α-like Sc/Fe ratios have been claimed for dwarfs at higher metallicity. Two dwarfs in the sample are carbon star

Chemical evolution addresses the problem of the formation of the chemical elements and their evolution throughout the history of the universe. This thesis discusses in particular the chemical evolution in the young universe and what we may learn from the observations of the oldest stars. The present day production of carbon in the Galaxy is also discussed. Interstellar media of young, metal-poor, star-forming systems are expected to show large chemical abundance inhomogeneities due to local supernova explosions. These inhomogeneities are reflected in the surface abundances of the population of longlived, low-mass stars. A stochastic model of the chemical evolution in such systems is presented and used to study the metallicity distribution and the scatter in chemical abundance ratios. The model takes into account mixing of the enriched material by turbulent motions and cloud collisions in the interstellar medium as well as infall of pristine matter. The predicted metallicity distribution shows, in accordance with observations of extreme Pop II strars in the Galactic halo, a distinct cut-off at [Fe/H]~-4. However, the fraction of stars below [Fe/H]=-4 agrees with observatrion only if a population of metal-free stars (Pop III) was never able to form. The predicted scatter in abundance ratios is demonstrated to be crucially dependent on the as yet uncertain supernova yields and the relatively small star-to-star scatter is tentatively explained by the averaging of a large number of contributing supernovae and by the selection effects favouring contributions from supernovae in a certain mass range for the most metal-poor stars. Furthermore, stars enriched by one single supernova are predicted to be found in very narrow sequences in the abundance ratio diagrams (so called A/A diagrams). Verification of the existence of such features, called single supernova sequences, is observationally challenging. Abundance analysis of carbon was performed in a large sample of solar-type

When modelling the collapse of massive stars leading to supernova explosions and the cooling of neutron stars, understanding the microphysical processes, such as the interaction of neutrinos within a dense medium are of vital importance. The interaction of neutrinos with nucleons (neutrons and protons) is altered by the presence of the medium, compared to the same process with free nucleons. Neutrino scattering and production processes may be characterized in terms of the excitations that are created or destroyed in the nuclear medium. One way to analyse the effects of the medium is by using Landau's theory of normal Fermi liquids. This theory gives simple relationships between physical quantities such as the spin susceptibility or the response to a weak interaction probe in terms of Landau parameters, that are measures of the interaction between quasiparticles. One problem when using Landau Fermi liquid theory for nucleon matter is that the interaction has a tensor component. The tensor interaction does not conserve the total spin and, as a consequence, there are generally contributions to long-wavelength response functions from states that have more than one quasiparticle-quasihole pair in the intermediate state. Such contributions cannot be calculated in terms of Landau parameters alone, since in the usual formulation of Landau theory, only singlepair excitations are considered. In this thesis three problems are addressed. First, we obtain bounds on the contributions from more than one quasiparticle-quasihole pair by using sum-rule arguments. Second, we derive expressions for static response functions allowing for the tensor components of the interaction. We analyse which the most important effects are on the static response of nucleon matter, and find that the major contributions comes from renormalization of coupling constants and transitions to states with more than one quasiparticle-quasihole pair. Third, we show how contributions to the dynamical response co

Eta Carinae is one of the most massive and luminous stars in the Galaxy. A huge bipolar nebula and an equatorial disk give the object a characteristic shape. Close to the star there are gas clouds, which emit intriguing emission line spectra. One such region, the strontium filament, is studied in more detail in this thesis, and the identities of 600 emission lines are reported. Some of these require extra treatment, viz. allowed and forbidden lines of Ti II and Sr II. Many thin astrophysical plasmas emit parity-forbidden lines, which can be used to diagnose the plasma. The upper levels of these lines are metastable states, which have radiative lifetimes of the order of 1 second compared to 1 nanosecond for ordinary states. We have performed measurements of metastable lifetimes in complex ions applying a laser probing technique on a stored ion beam at the storage ring CRYRING (MSL, Stockholm). This thesis reports on 4 lifetimes in Fe II and 2 in Ti II, the first measured in such complex systems. The lifetimes are in the range 0.23 to 28 s. Experimental absolute transition probabilities for forbidden lines in [Fe II] are derived by combining the experimental metastable lifetimes with astrophysical branching fractions (BF). The BF’s are derived from spectra of the Weigelt blobs of Eta Carinae, which contain strong forbidden [Fe II] lines. In some stars the intensity of emission lines from specific high-excitation levels is greatly enhanced. They are explained as fluoresence lines from energy levels, which have an enhanced population due to selective photoexcitation. This is caused by an accidental coincidence in wavelength between a strong emission line and the pumped transition. We report on fluorescence lines and pumped levels in Fe II observed in the symbiotic star RR Telescopii.

Low frequency plasma instabilities driven by plasma inhomogeneity and velocity anisotropies are major candidates for the explanation of various phenomena observed in fusion and space plasmas. For low-β fusion plasma, the influence of plasma rotation and finite ion temperature on the structure and the type of toroidal drift eigenmodes in tokamaks is investigated rigorously, including the effects induced by the toroidal geometry such as the coupling mode, the radial variation of plasma rotation velocity and the magnetic shear. The conditions at which global or propagating drift modes are formed and the analytical dispersion relations are obtained for various cases. For high-β space plasma, a unified theory of the mirror instability based on a quasi-hydrodynamic approach and a unified fully kinetic theory of the drift mirror instabilities have been developed. The obtained results are applicable for arbitrary distribution functions and can be used to determine whether mirror and drift mirror modes are stable or unstable in a multi-component plasma, including electron temperature effects and electron pressure anisotropies. A major outcome of the theory of drift mirror instabilities, is the prediction of a hydrodynamic drift mirror instability with threshold lower than the classic ion drift mirror instability.

We studied analytically and numerically the establishment of global turbulent equipartition (TEP) of magnetised electrons in a tokamak plasma. This allows us to investigate self-consistently the inhomogeneous distributions of the plasma density, the electron and the ion temperatures, the generation of radial electric field and the poloidal and the toroidal rotation in the turbulent tokamak plasma. We have obtained the level and the inhomogeneous distribution of the turbulent energy, which allows us to estimate the rate of turbulent mixing at any point in a tokamak. We have used the invariant kinetic description for the electrons and semi hydrodynamics approach for the ions (separately for the trapped and passing ions) to describe the TEP state of the plasma in tokamak. As a result, we found two qualitatively different TEP distributions, that am similar to the L and H-modes in tokamak. We have studied these modes in details. We have got the scaling laws of the density and the temperature in both cases. We have found that, in both cases, the turbulence level is sufficiently large to provide the quick rate of the turbulent mixing in the central tokamak region, which is required for the validity of the global TEP approach. We have found that, in the second case of H-mode, the turbulent suppression zone, the poloidal rotation and the negative radial electric field is developed at the plasma boundary. The turbulence level in the turbulence suppression zone, which appears in the H-mode, is rather- small to provide quick turbulent mixing in this region. It means, that two different TEPS, one for the hot central plasma and another one for the cold plasma at the separatrix could appear outside the turbulence suppression zone. We have studied this coexistence by using different models.

Various aspects regarding dispersive and polarimetric properties of waves in space plasma are discussed from a theoretical viewpoint, which is extended to include numerical as well as experimental studies. From a more technical viewpoint, two scientific instruments are described. One of them is a three-axis digital radio receiver, aimed at measurg electromagnetic wave polarization from the ground or in space. The other is the dual Langmuir probe system on board the Astrid-2 micro-satellite, operational between January ll and July 24, 1999 which continuously measured the plasma density of the Earth's topside ionosphere. In more detail: The dispersive properties of small amplitude, high-frequency (HF) waves in relativistic, unmagnetized and magnetized plasm are investigated. The fully relativistic descriptn is shown to become important for electron temperatures in the 5-500 keV range and for wave frequencies about the gyro harmonics, even at lower temperatures. An exact expression for the relativistic plasma frequency is derived and shown to be proportional to the exact relativistic thermal velocity, thproportionality being the Debye length. An alternative derivation of the non-relativistic magnetized plasmpermittivity tensor is presented. Dispersion laws for electrostatic and electromagnetic waves in fully relativistic, unmagnetized Maxwell plasma are derived and compared with the corresponding dispersion laws obtained in the non-relativistic and the ultra-relativist approximations. A numerical solution of the fully relativistic dispersion equation is to this end used as a reference solution. To describe the polarimetric properties of electromagnetic waves from arbitrary directions, a generalization of the two-dimensional Stokes' parameters description of polarization to three dimensions is performed. The generalized formalism is then implemented in a three-axis digital radio receiver, primarily designed for determining the direction of arrival of electromagnetic wav

A study on the chemical abundances of dwarf irregular galaxies (dI's) is presented in this work. This type of galaxies have typically low metallicity. First of all, a definition of dI is proposed, in order to obtain a homogeneous group of targets. Due to the small size of the dI galaxies and the absence of strong dynamical processes a homogeneous chemical composition is normally assumed. The main argument is that the gas in the interstellar medium of the galaxies are probably not too much affected by internal dynamics and could therefore be well mixed. This hypothesis has been investigated. Optical spectra for various star-forming regions (HII regions) in five dI's have been obtained and analysed. For all the HII regions, the chemical abundances of the whole region have been determined. Spectra of four of these HII regions are of very high quality which allow an additional study of possible variations of the chemical abundances within the regions. It could be concluded that the existence of variations in the chemical abundances, especially at large scales, may depend on thephysical properties of the galaxy and its environment. Another important aspect to study is the behaviour of the dI galaxies in the metallicity-luminosity plane. A deep study of previous relationships for this kind of objects were performed as well as the possible sources of dispersion from this relationship. With the results on the chemical abundances of eight galaxies and the latest distance determinations a new, weak, relationship between the metallicity and the luminosity was derived. The influence of the environment and other physical properties of the galaxies have also been studied.

This study considers astrophysics, stellar and nebular astronomy in Sweden. Emphasis is on the role of scientific technologies and practice, and the emergence of a modern observational astronomy, supplanting classical astronomy as the most vital field of Swedish astronomy. The introduction of photography and spectroscopy is discussed, mainly focused on Nils Dunér. The mechanical nature of the photographic observations was seen as something that entailed objectivity. Photography changed the way astronomers worked; the observations were industrialised. The stellar statistics of C.V.L. Charlier led to models of the distribution of stars in space; Charlier’s statistical astronomy was also connected with an increased interest for statistical methods in other parts of early twentieth-century Swedish culture. Knut Lundmark’s work was mainly on the distances to nebulæ. Lundmark also tried to catalogue the increased numbers of nebulæ observed in a general catalogue. A group centred on Bertil Lindblad worked on developing spectroscopical criteria for determining stellar distances. Lindblad and his group constructed a new observatory at Saltsjöbaden that was geared towards their research interests. Four professorial appointments are studied, where arguments about the relative merits of the fields of astronomy surfaced. The changing patterns of international contacts are also discussed, as are a number of astronomy-related scientists in other fields, publications on the history of astronomy and popular science.

A description and detailed tests of a numerical code for simulations of galaxy formation is presented. The dynamics is followed with fully adaptive and Lagrangian Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) combined with a gravitational tree method. The severe numerical problem of sub-resolution clustering is solved by merging of gas particles. The code is used for Hydrodynamical simulations of the formation of galaxies in the mass range 109 - 1013M☉. The effect of an ambient UV radiation field, and the effect of metal enrichment of halo gas due to star formation and stellar evolution, are investigated. The UV radiation field is found to strongly affect galaxies with circular velocities less than ≈ 50 km/s. The effect is, however, not large enough to reconcile hierarchical clustering models with observations. I present numerical simulations of galaxy formation in a CDM scenario, including star formation, using the SPH and tree method on scales ranging from 20 Mpc down to less than 1 kpc. The gas component is treated as a two-phase medium, governed by thermal instability and supernova feedback. For a certain degree of supernova evaporation, several general properties of elliptical galaxies are reproduced, like shapes, r1/4-profiles, half-light radii, slow rotation and anisotropic velocity dispersions. A Faber-Jackson -like relation is observed, being of the form M ~ Σ2.6. No disk shaped objects form. The elliptical objects form through a hierarchical, star-forming "inside-out" collapse. The SFR has a rapidly raising and later exponentially decaying behaviour in individual objects. The stellar contribution to the closure density is around one percent. The co-moving average SFR shows an increasing behaviour with redshift. Low mass objects are strongly suppressed. Generally, the more massive objects are in place at z ~ 0.5 - 2. Although many problems and questions still remain, the overall impression is that surprisingly many properties of ellipticals are reproduced.

This thesis is focused on the origin and evolution of blue compact galaxies (BCGs). BCGs are low mass galaxies characterised by blue colours, low chemical abundances and high star formation rates. The gas consumtion time scale is considerable shorter than the age of the universe and thus the high star formation rate must be transient. Such a non sustainable star formation rate is commonly referred to as a "starburst". It has been proposed that BCGs are genuinely young galaxies or alternatively that theyoccasionally undergo starbursts, separated by long quiesent periods. It is of importance for the understanding of the evolution of galaxies, and in particular dwarf galaxies, to understand under what conditions a galaxy can become a starbursting BCG. The properties of in particular intrinsically luminous BCGs have been examined photometrically and kinematically. The results show that the studied galaxies have a population of old stars underlying the luminous starbursts. Thus they are not young galaxies. It is shown that infrared photometry is a powerful method to detect underlying old populations in BCGs. Kinematical studies of the velocity field suggests that the galaxies have been perturbed by mergers, and it is proposed that mergers betweengas rich dwarf galaxies is the triggering mechanism for starbursts in luminous BCGs. Low surface brightness galaxies are promising ingredients in such mergers. Observations with the Hubble Space Telescope of the BCG ESO 338- IG04 reveal the presence of a very rich population of globular clusters (GCs) of various ages. Apparently GC formation is still going on in this starbursting galaxy. The age dating of GCs offers an efficient way of studying the starburst history of BCGs and galaxies in general. The relation between BCGs and other types of low mass galaxies is discussed.

The local space density of the faintest stars, including M dwarfs, white dwarfs and brown dwarfs has been studied by two different methods. By using dark nebulae as opaque outer screens, the luminosity functions of M dwarfs and white dwarfs were studied as volume-limited and dynamically unbiassed foreground samples. The surveyed volume corresponds to 464 pc3 in the solar neighbourhood and contains 21 M dwarfs and 7 white dwarfs. The derived M-dwarf luminosity function is consistent with previous findings, showing no substantial upturnbeyond Mv = 16. The white dwarf space density is consistent with a 20% fraction of the dynamical matter in the solar neighbourhood residing in white dwarfs. This is in line with the most recent independent results obtained with different methods, making the white dwarfs the best explanation to the Milky Way dark matter at present. The brown dwarfs were studied in the Pleiades open cluster. The distance and age of the Pleiades make the rapidly fading brown dwarfs still rather bright and easy to detect. 850 arcmin2 were covered in a deep RIJK survey. Nine new possible cluster members were discovered, four of which are below the brown dwarf limit. The faintest of these has an estimated mass of 0.040 M. and is thereby the lowest mass brown dwarf identified in the Pleiades cluster at present. The derived Pleiades substellar luminosity function is consistent with a mass function index between 0 and 1, making the brown dwarfs unlikely to contribute more than a few percent to the cluster mass, which is also consistent with recent dynamical results.

The thermal infrared and microwave emission from asteroids have many applications. Fundamental physical properties can be investigated, which have implications for the geophysical evolution of the asteroids, and the early history of the solar system. A new thermophysical model of asteroids is presented. A number of physical processes previously neglected in the Standard Thermal Model are now considered. The new model predicts the thermal emission of asteroids, from mid-infrared to microwave wavelengths. The irregular shapes of asteroids are modelled in detail, and the spin state of the asteroids is taken into account, whereby it is possible to calculate model thermal lightcurves. The heat conduction into the surface material in general lowers the mid-infrared flux from main-belt asteroids. The model is able to explain the observed "beaming" of the emission into the solar direction, under the assumption that it is caused by the small-scale surface roughness. Subsurface scattering processes are considered when calculating the directional- and wavelength-dependent emissivity. The model is applied to a large database of observations in the wavelength range of 7-2 000 µm. The purpose is to derive the thermophysical properties of ten asteroids, selected as calibration targets for the instruments on board the Infrared Space Observatory. The results indicate very rough and porous surfaces, with low levels of heat conduction. The emissivity variessignificantly with wavelength.

Recension av Paul Leo Butzer & Dietrich Lohrmann, Science in Western and Eastern Civilization in Carolingian Times.

The solar magnetic activity cycle - visible on the solar surface in the form of the cyclic appearance of sunspots - is an example of an astrophysical dynamo: a system that regenerates its own magnetic field by tapping available thermal and kinetic energy. The detailed observations available for the solar dynamo makes it an ideal archetype for studying such dynamo processes. Understanding how to sustain a strong magnetic field at the bottom of the convection zone - and understanding the behavior of magnetic fields at the solar surface - probably constitute the most important problems on the way to an understanding of the solar dynamo. However, neither of these two problems can be solved completely as separate entities and they may certainly not be said to be understood if we do not understand what happens to the magnetic field from the time it is generated by the dynamo to when it is observed on the solar surface. Therefore, in this Thesis I examine the buoyant rise of the magnetic field from the bottom of the convection zone - by means of numerical simulation - in order to see if the predicted toroidal magnetic flux system is in fact consistent with what is observed at the solar surface.