Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Spectropolarimetry Of Epsilon Aurigae: Probing Stellar And Disk Atmospheres, Kathleen M. Geise

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The bright eclipsing binary system epsilon Aurigae offers a unique opportunity to uncover physical mechanisms contributing to disk formation and evolution and to explore the relationship between photospheric anisotropies, stellar pulsation and mass loss. This research contributes to our understanding of stellar evolution in the context of binary stars. The research also offers the opportunity to investigate disk formation and evolution significant to our understanding of protoplanetary disks now seen in many star systems. Lastly, the project considers radiative transfer of polarized light that contributes to diverse fields such as atmospheric studies of exoplanets.

My objective is to understand the …