Off-campus UMass Amherst users: To download dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your UMass Amherst user name and password.
Non-UMass Amherst users, please click the view more button below to purchase a copy of this dissertation from Proquest.
(Some titles may also be available free of charge in our Open Access Dissertation Collection, so please check there first.)
Rotation and structure in the universe
Abstract
Rotation and structure in the universe are studied in two investigations. The first investigation is a theoretical exploration of structure formation in the young universe, when localized angular momentum is present. The second investigation is an exploration of the "signature" localized large scale rotation or transverse motion might leave in observational "redshift maps" of structure in the universe. In the first investigation, analytic approximations to the virial equations of equilibrium for rotating, self-gravitating gaseous bodies are studied in the multi-equilibrium regime. Such bodies may collapse via a "phase transition" before reaching dynamical instability. The phase transition mass is calculated for a simple cosmological scenario and found to be the size of a small galaxy. The dynamical collapse mass, by contrast, is much larger and grows rapidly as the universe expands. In the second investigation, a redshift space artifact is studied which results from an "infall" field surrounding a rich galaxy cluster. In a simulation, a redshift map of an infall region shows an artificial "ring" of galaxies encircling the "finger of god" artifact produced by the simulated cluster core. When the observer has transverse motion or the infall region has rotation, the ring tilts on the finger. Redshift maps of two nearby clusters, Virgo and Fornax, are compared against the simulation. Redshift space structure surrounding Virgo shows a strong resemblence to the simulation's ring, although structure surrounding Fornax is less similar. Both Virgo's and Fornax's "rings" tilt. Taken together, the tilt directions are not consistent with a uniform translation of the rest frame. The directions are consistent with either a steep tidal shear produced by a "Great Attractor" or with rotation about each cluster.
Subject Area
Astrophysics
Recommended Citation
Praton, Elizabeth A, "Rotation and structure in the universe" (1993). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9408330.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9408330