Undergraduate Thesis

All undergraduate students at Ahmedabad University complete an Undergraduate Thesis or Capstone Project with a writing component in their final year

An Undergraduate Thesis is a scholarly document that examines a focused or a narrow issue or a problem and evaluates, analytically and critically, the issue or problem at hand in depth and often suggests a suitable direction for a solution. An Undergraduate Thesis should be done individually under the supervision of a faculty member and it prepares the student to undertake independent research and teaches them about methods of enquiry. It helps build deep knowledge in one narrow domain. An Undergraduate Thesis is suitable forastudent who wishes to pursue graduate studies leading to doctoral education and perhaps build a research-oriented career.

List of Undergraduate Thesis

The Structure of Space-Times, Singularity Theorems, and Existence of Trapped Surfaces

One of the most peculiar features of gravity that Newtonian mechanics failed to formulate are black holes and the spacetime singularities. The general theory of relativity could formalise it precisely due to its reliance on the rigorously established differential geometry as well as algebraic topology. This shift of paradigm and its further formalism by Hawking and Penrose has given rise to a whole set of new problems pertaining to singularities. The most relevant of all being the cosmic censorship conjecture, which is an attempt to propose that every singularity has some sort of trapped region that causally censors it.

Accretion Disks Around Compact Objects: A Study of Black Hole X-Ray Binaries

Accretion processes have garnered a lot of attention in recent years, from playing a key role in star formation to forming discs around compact objects. Theories related to accretion processes, initially formulated by Novikov & Thorne (1973) [18] and Shakura & Sunyaev (1973) [23], provided much-required knowledge to understand quasars, X-ray binaries, and active galactic nuclei. One of the primary assumptions of these theories is that internal energy generated due to viscous forces is emitted in the form of radiation.

The Influence of Gravitational Waves on the Formation and Evolution of Habitable Environments

The concept of habitable zones was first proposed by Huang (1959) . From the time of its introduction, the focus was primarily on electromagnetically (radiatively) induced effects. The effects of gravitational radiation on the formation and evolution of these zones were never considered until recently. A very basic model was given by Lima et al. (2020).The work done here extends this by adding the effects of eccentricity to the model. Finally, a primary model based on the inclusion of greenhouse effects is also given and can serve as a starting point for a detailed numerical simulation study in the future.

Study of White Dwarfs in Ngc2808

NGC2808 is a very intriguing and unusual galactic globular cluster that purportedly has undergone more than one episode of star formation, hosting distinct stellar subpopulations. In this study, the white dwarf (WD) stars in NGC 2808 have been analysed using near-ultraviolet and optical data (F275W, F336W, and F438W) from the Hubble Space Telescope. The identification and studies of various types of WDs - e.g. ones with a core composed of carbon and oxygen (CO-core) and ones with a core composition of helium (He-core) are crucial for understanding their formation scenario, which remains elusive and could depend on factors like binarity, cluster mass, etc.

Study of Positron-Molecule Resonant Annihilations Beyond the Fundamental Modes

It is known from the literature that positrons bind with fundamental modes of several hydrocarbon molecules and that results in exceptionally large annihilation rates. However, there are many unidentified peaks in the annihilation spectrum, which indicates that there are interactions beyond the fundamental mode resonances. A comprehensive study on symmetry-allowed mode combination is carried out in this thesis by employing concepts from group theory and the theory of symmetry in molecules.

Investigation on Twisted Optical Fiber-Based Magneto-Optic Current Sensor and Advancing Plasma Current Measurements in the Aditya-Upgrade Tokamak

The measurement of plasma current is one of the critical parameters in characterising plasma and understanding its behaviour. Conventionally, the Rogowski coil is used to measure plasma current. The problem with this approach arises when long, steady-state plasma shots are conducted. Due to the usage of integrators, drift is generated in the output signal. A diagnostic system, Magneto-Optic Current Sensor (MOCS), has been developed and commissioned on the Aditya-Upgrade tokamak for plasma current measurements.

A Review of Black Hole Thermodynamics and Future Frontiers

The measurement of plasma current is one of the critical parameters in characterising plasma and understanding its behaviour. Conventionally, the Rogowski coil is used to measure plasma current. The problem with this approach arises when long, steady-state plasma shots are conducted. Due to the usage of integrators, drift is generated in the output signal. A diagnostic system, Magneto-Optic Current Sensor (MOCS), has been developed and commissioned on the Aditya-Upgrade tokamak for plasma current measurements.

Investigating properties of OB stars in the Magellanic Bridge using SEDs

The Magellanic Bridge, a tidal structure between the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, presents a unique low-metallicity and low gas density environment to study recent star formation. This study focuses on identifying and analysing OB-type stars in the Bridge using Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs).