Finding needles in the haystack : a search for AM CVn systems using the Palomar Transient Factory

The AM CVn systems are a rare class of ultra-compact astrophysical binaries. With orbital periods of under an hour and as short as five minutes, they are among the closest known binary star systems and their evolution has direct relevance to the type Ia supernova rate and the white dwarf binary population. However, their faint and rare nature has made population studies of these systems difficult and several studies have found conflicting results.

I undertook a survey for AM CVn systems using the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) astrophysical synoptic survey by exploiting the "outbursts" these systems undergo. Such events result in an increase in luminosity by a factor of up to two-hundred and are detectable in time-domain photometric data of AM CVn systems. My search resulted in the discovery of eight new systems, over 20% of the current known population. More importantly, this search was done in a systematic fashion, which allows for a population study properly accounting for biases.

Apart from the discovery of new systems, I used the time-domain data from the PTF and other synoptic surveys to better understand the long-term behavior of these systems. This analysis of the photometric behavior of the majority of known AM CVn systems has shown changes in their behavior at longer time scales than have previously been observed. This has allowed me to find relationships between the outburst properties of an individual system and its orbital period.

Even more importantly, the systematically selected sample together with these properties have allowed me to conduct a population study of the AM CVn systems. I have shown that the latest published estimates of the AM CVn system population, a factor of fifty below theoretical estimates, are consistent with the sample of systems presented here. This is particularly noteworthy since my population study is most sensitive to a different orbital period regime than earlier surveys. This confirmation of the population density will allow the AM CVn systems population to be used in the study of other areas of astrophysics.

Demographic studies of extrasolar planets

Uncovering the demographics of extrasolar planets is crucial to understanding the processes of their formation and evolution. In this thesis, we present four studies that contribute to this end, three of which relate to NASA's Kepler mission, which has revolutionized the field of exoplanets in the last few years.

In the pre-Kepler study, we investigate a sample of exoplanet spin-orbit measurements---measurements of the inclination of a planet's orbit relative to the spin axis of its host star---to determine whether a dominant planet migration channel can be identified, and at what confidence. Applying methods of Bayesian model comparison to distinguish between the predictions of several different migration models, we find that the data strongly favor a two-mode migration scenario combining planet-planet scattering and disk migration over a single-mode Kozai migration scenario. While we test only the predictions of particular Kozai and scattering migration models in this work, these methods may be used to test the predictions of any other spin-orbit misaligning mechanism.

We then present two studies addressing astrophysical false positives in Kepler data. The Kepler mission has identified thousands of transiting planet candidates, and only relatively few have yet been dynamically confirmed as bona fide planets, with only a handful more even conceivably amenable to future dynamical confirmation. As a result, the ability to draw detailed conclusions about the diversity of exoplanet systems from Kepler detections relies critically on understanding the probability that any individual candidate might be a false positive. We show that a typical a priori false positive probability for a well-vetted Kepler candidate is only about 5-10%, enabling confidence in demographic studies that treat candidates as true planets. We also present a detailed procedure that can be used to securely and efficiently validate any individual transit candidate using detailed information of the signal's shape as well as follow-up observations, if available.

Finally, we calculate an empirical, non-parametric estimate of the shape of the radius distribution of small planets with periods less than 90 days orbiting cool (less than 4000K) dwarf stars in the Kepler catalog. This effort reveals several notable features of the distribution, in particular a maximum in the radius function around 1-1.25 Earth radii and a steep drop-off in the distribution larger than 2 Earth radii. Even more importantly, the methods presented in this work can be applied to a broader subsample of Kepler targets to understand how the radius function of planets changes across different types of host stars.

Dynamical stability of nascent neutron stars

This thesis presents a study of the dynamical stability of nascent neutron stars resulting from the accretion induced collapse of rapidly rotating white dwarfs.

Chapter 2 and part of Chapter 3 study the equilibrium models for these neutron stars. They are constructed by assuming that the neutron stars have the same masses, angular momenta, and specific angular momentum distributions as the pre-collapse white dwarfs. If the pre-collapse white dwarf is rapidly rotating, the collapsed object will contain a high density central core of size about 20 km, surrounded by a massive accretion torus extending to hundreds of kilometers from the rotation axis. The ratio of the rotational kinetic energy to gravitational binding energy, β, of these neutron stars is all found to be less than 0.27.

Chapter 3 studies the dynamical stability of these neutron stars by numerically evolving the linearized hydrodynamical equations. A dynamical bar-mode instability is observed when the β of the star is greater than the critical value β_d ≈ 0.25. It is expected that the unstable mode will persist until a substantial amount of angular momentum is carried away by gravitational radiation. The detectability of these sources is studied and it is estimated that LIGO II is unlikely to detect them unless the event rate is greater than 10^-6/year/galaxy.

All the calculations on the structure and stability of the neutron stars in Chapters 2 and 3 are carried out using Newtonian hydrodynamics and gravity. Chapter 4 studies the relativistic effects on the structure of these neutron stars. New techniques are developed and used to construct neutron star models to the first post-Newtonian (1PN) order. The structures of the 1PN models are qualitatively similar to the corresponding Newtonian models, but the values of β are somewhat smaller. The maximum β for these 1PN neutron stars is found to be 0.24, which is 8% smaller than the Newtonian result (0.26). However, relativistic effects will also change the critical value β_d. A detailed post-Newtonian stability analysis has yet to be carried out to study the relativistic effects on the dynamical stability of these neutron stars.

Toward Understanding Astrophysical Phenomena

Fast radio bursts (FRBs), a novel type of radio pulse, whose physics is not yet understood at all. Only a handful of FRBs had been detected when we started this project. Taking account of the scant observations, we put physical constraints on FRBs. We excluded proposals of a galactic origin for their extraordinarily high dispersion measures (DM), in particular stellar coronas and HII regions. Therefore our work supports an extragalactic origin for FRBs. We show that the resolved scattering tail of FRB 110220 is unlikely to be due to propagation through the intergalactic plasma. Instead the scattering is probably caused by the interstellar medium in the FRB's host galaxy, and indicates that this burst sits in the central region of that galaxy. Pulse durations of order $\ms$ constrain source sizes of FRBs implying enormous brightness temperatures and thus coherent emission. Electric fields near FRBs at cosmological distances would be so strong that they could accelerate free electrons from rest to relativistic energies in a single wave period. When we worked on FRBs, it was unclear whether they were genuine astronomical signals as distinct from `perytons', clearly terrestrial radio bursts, sharing some common properties with FRBs. Recently, in April 2015, astronomers discovered that perytons were emitted by microwave ovens. Radio chirps similar to FRBs were emitted when their doors opened while they were still heating. Evidence for the astronomical nature of FRBs has strengthened since our paper was published. Some bursts have been found to show linear and circular polarizations and Faraday rotation of the linear polarization has also been detected. I hope to resume working on FRBs in the near future. But after we completed our FRB paper, I decided to pause this project because of the lack of observational constraints.

The pulsar triple system, J0733+1715, has its orbital parameters fitted to high accuracy owing to the precise timing of the central $\ms$ pulsar. The two orbits are highly hierarchical, namely $P_{\mathrm{orb,1}}\ll P_{\mathrm{orb,2}}$, where 1 and 2 label the inner and outer white dwarf (WD) companions respectively. Moreover, their orbital planes almost coincide, providing a unique opportunity to study secular interaction associated purely with eccentricity beyond the solar system. Secular interaction only involves effect averaged over many orbits. Thus each companion can be represented by an elliptical wire with its mass distributed inversely proportional to its local orbital speed. Generally there exists a mutual torque, which vanishes only when their apsidal lines are parallel or anti-parallel. To maintain either mode, the eccentricity ratio, $e_1/e_2$, must be of the proper value, so that both apsidal lines precess together. For J0733+1715, $e_1\ll e_2$ for the parallel mode, while $e_1\gg e_2$ for the anti-parallel one. We show that the former precesses $\sim 10$ times slower than the latter. Currently the system is dominated by the parallel mode. Although only a little anti-parallel mode survives, both eccentricities especially $e_1$ oscillate on $\sim 10^3\yr$ timescale. Detectable changes would occur within $\sim 1\yr$. We demonstrate that the anti-parallel mode gets damped $\sim 10^4$ times faster than its parallel brother by any dissipative process diminishing $e_1$. If it is the tidal damping in the inner WD, we proceed to estimate its tidal quantity parameter ($Q$) to be $\sim 10^6$, which was poorly constrained by observations. However, tidal damping may also happen during the preceding low-mass X-ray binary (LMXB) phase or hydrogen thermal nuclear flashes. But, in both cases, the inner companion fills its Roche lobe and probably suffers mass/angular momentum loss, which might cause $e_1$ to grow rather than decay.

Several pairs of solar system satellites occupy mean motion resonances (MMRs). We divide these into two groups according to their proximity to exact resonance. Proximity is measured by the existence of a separatrix in phase space. MMRs between Io-Europa, Europa-Ganymede and Enceladus-Dione are too distant from exact resonance for a separatrix to appear. A separatrix is present only in the phase spaces of the Mimas-Tethys and Titan-Hyperion MMRs and their resonant arguments are the only ones to exhibit substantial librations. When a separatrix is present, tidal damping of eccentricity or inclination excites overstable librations that can lead to passage through resonance on the damping timescale. However, after investigation, we conclude that the librations in the Mimas-Tethys and Titan-Hyperion MMRs are fossils and do not result from overstability.

Rubble piles are common in the solar system. Monolithic elements touch their neighbors in small localized areas. Voids occupy a significant fraction of the volume. In a fluid-free environment, heat cannot conduct through voids; only radiation can transfer energy across them. We model the effective thermal conductivity of a rubble pile and show that it is proportional the square root of the pressure, $P$, for $P\leq \epsy^3\mu$ where $\epsy$ is the material's yield strain and $\mu$ its shear modulus. Our model provides an excellent fit to the depth dependence of the thermal conductivity in the top $140\,\mathrm{cm}$ of the lunar regolith. It also offers an explanation for the low thermal inertias of rocky asteroids and icy satellites. Lastly, we discuss how rubble piles slow down the cooling of small bodies such as asteroids.

Electromagnetic (EM) follow-up observations of gravitational wave (GW) events will help shed light on the nature of the sources, and more can be learned if the EM follow-ups can start as soon as the GW event becomes observable. In this paper, we propose a computationally efficient time-domain algorithm capable of detecting gravitational waves (GWs) from coalescing binaries of compact objects with nearly zero time delay. In case when the signal is strong enough, our algorithm also has the flexibility to trigger EM observation {\it before} the merger. The key to the efficiency of our algorithm arises from the use of chains of so-called Infinite Impulse Response (IIR) filters, which filter time-series data recursively. Computational cost is further reduced by a template interpolation technique that requires filtering to be done only for a much coarser template bank than otherwise required to sufficiently recover optimal signal-to-noise ratio. Towards future detectors with sensitivity extending to lower frequencies, our algorithm's computational cost is shown to increase rather insignificantly compared to the conventional time-domain correlation method. Moreover, at latencies of less than hundreds to thousands of seconds, this method is expected to be computationally more efficient than the straightforward frequency-domain method.

The Atmospheric Dynamics of Pulsar Companions

Pulsars emit radiation over an extremely wide frequency range, from radio through gamma. Recently, systems in which this radiation significantly alters the atmospheres of low-mass pulsar companions have been discovered. These systems, ranging from ones with highly anisotropic heating to those with transient X-ray emissions, represent an exciting opportunity to investigate pulsars through the changes they induce in their companions. In this work, we present both analytic and numerical work investigating these phenomena, with a particular focus on atmospheric heat transport, transient phenomena, and the possibility of deep heating via gamma rays. We find that certain classes of binary systems may explain decadal-timescale X-ray transient phenomena, as well as the formation of so-called redback companion systems. We also posit an explanation for the formation of high-eccentricity millisecond pulsars with white dwarf companions. In addition, we examine the temperature anisotropy induced by the Pulsar in its companion, and demonstrate that this may be used to infer properties of both the companion and the Pulsar wind. Finally, we explore the possibility of spontaneously generated banded winds in rapidly rotating convecting objects.

Two roads to planet detection

One of the most exciting discoveries in astrophysics of the last last decade is of the sheer diversity of planetary systems. These include "hot Jupiters", giant planets so close to their host stars that they orbit once every few days; "Super-Earths", planets with sizes intermediate to those of Earth and Neptune, of which no analogs exist in our own solar system; multi-planet systems with planets smaller than Mars to larger than Jupiter; planets orbiting binary stars; free-floating planets flying through the emptiness of space without any star; even planets orbiting pulsars. Despite these remarkable discoveries, the field is still young, and there are many areas about which precious little is known. In particular, we don't know the planets orbiting Sun-like stars nearest to our own solar system, and we know very little about the compositions of extrasolar planets. This thesis provides developments in those directions, through two instrumentation projects.

The first chapter of this thesis concerns detecting planets in the Solar neighborhood using precision stellar radial velocities, also known as the Doppler technique. We present an analysis determining the most efficient way to detect planets considering factors such as spectral type, wavelengths of observation, spectrograph resolution, observing time, and instrumental sensitivity. We show that G and K dwarfs observed at 400-600 nm are the best targets for surveys complete down to a given planet mass and out to a specified orbital period. Overall we find that M dwarfs observed at 700-800 nm are the best targets for habitable-zone planets, particularly when including the effects of systematic noise floors caused by instrumental imperfections. Somewhat surprisingly, we demonstrate that a modestly sized observatory, with a dedicated observing program, is up to the task of discovering such planets.

We present just such an observatory in the second chapter, called the "MINiature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array," or MINERVA. We describe the design, which uses a novel multi-aperture approach to increase stability and performance through lower system etendue, as well as keeping costs and time to deployment down. We present calculations of the expected planet yield, and data showing the system performance from our testing and development of the system at Caltech's campus. We also present the motivation, design, and performance of a fiber coupling system for the array, critical for efficiently and reliably bringing light from the telescopes to the spectrograph. We finish by presenting the current status of MINERVA, operational at Mt. Hopkins observatory in Arizona.

The second part of this thesis concerns a very different method of planet detection, direct imaging, which involves discovery and characterization of planets by collecting and analyzing their light. Directly analyzing planetary light is the most promising way to study their atmospheres, formation histories, and compositions. Direct imaging is extremely challenging, as it requires a high performance adaptive optics system to unblur the point-spread function of the parent star through the atmosphere, a coronagraph to suppress stellar diffraction, and image post-processing to remove non-common path "speckle" aberrations that can overwhelm any planetary companions.

To this end, we present the "Stellar Double Coronagraph," or SDC, a flexible coronagraphic platform for use with the 200" Hale telescope. It has two focal and pupil planes, allowing for a number of different observing modes, including multiple vortex phase masks in series for improved contrast and inner working angle behind the obscured aperture of the telescope. We present the motivation, design, performance, and data reduction pipeline of the instrument. In the following chapter, we present some early science results, including the first image of a companion to the star delta Andromeda, which had been previously hypothesized but never seen.

A further chapter presents a wavefront control code developed for the instrument, using the technique of "speckle nulling," which can remove optical aberrations from the system using the deformable mirror of the adaptive optics system. This code allows for improved contrast and inner working angles, and was written in a modular style so as to be portable to other high contrast imaging platforms. We present its performance on optical, near-infrared, and thermal infrared instruments on the Palomar and Keck telescopes, showing how it can improve contrasts by a factor of a few in less than ten iterations.

One of the large challenges in direct imaging is sensing and correcting the electric field in the focal plane to remove scattered light that can be much brighter than any planets. In the last chapter, we present a new method of focal-plane wavefront sensing, combining a coronagraph with a simple phase-shifting interferometer. We present its design and implementation on the Stellar Double Coronagraph, demonstrating its ability to create regions of high contrast by measuring and correcting for optical aberrations in the focal plane. Finally, we derive how it is possible to use the same hardware to distinguish companions from speckle errors using the principles of optical coherence. We present results observing the brown dwarf HD 49197b, demonstrating the ability to detect it despite it being buried in the speckle noise floor. We believe this is the first detection of a substellar companion using the coherence properties of light.