The search for extrasolar planets is one of the most exciting fields in astronomy and
will perhaps one day answer the question of whether we are alone in the universe. The exploration of
extrasolar planets makes it possible to put the formation and evolution of our Solar System into a more
generalized cosmogonic context.
Red giants and mass loss
Long-period Variables and Miras are radially pulsating, highly evolved stars on the
Asymptotic Giant Branch. Due to peculiar conditions of these objects, their cool, extended atmospheres
are distinguished sites for the formation of complex molecules and dust particles. The interplay between
dust formation and stellar radiation results in a circumstellar dust shell (CDS) generating slow mass loss,
which finally enriches the interstellar medium with processed material.
In view of the theory of dynamical systems, the CDS can be considered as nonlinear multi-oscillatory
systems, whose eigenfrequencies and normal modes are controlled by the intrinsic time scales of various
coupled physical and chemical processes. I investigate the complex dynamical behaviour of carbon-rich
CDSs in great detail by established methods of non-linear dynamics such as Fourier Analysis and the study
of stroboscopic and Poincaré maps.