Astrophysics

Analysis of 3D numerical simulations of subsolidus thermal convection: application to Venus and Europa0

Analysis of 3D numerical simulations of subsolidus thermal convection: application to Venus and Europa

By Ian W. Bolliger ‘11 Geophysics and Planetary Geosciences, Jet Propulsion Lab National Aeronautics and Space Administration and California Institute of Technology Numerical simulations using 3D spherical and Cartesian coordinates are carried out to analyze convective properties of fluids with viscosities of varying dependence on temperature and varying Rayleigh numbers. Several MATLAB codes are developed in order to interpret the results of [...]

Hill stability and Kozai evolution with applications to Kuiper belt binaries0

Hill stability and Kozai evolution with applications to Kuiper belt binaries

This study investigates the stability of a three-body system, which is a difficult problem in astrophysics. The author focuses on how stability criteria are altered when considering the Kozai effect, or the periodic alternation of inclination and eccentricity in the smaller binary pair.

Searching for dark matter beyond the WMAP haze0

Searching for dark matter beyond the WMAP haze

An investigation of the WMAP haze, which is an excess in microwave radiation from the galactic center. This paper models this phenomenon by implicating the process of dark matter annihilation.