Henry, Richard C.,Thurston, Tad Ralph.2013-08-162013-08-161998http://hdl.handle.net/11244/5612The character of nitrogen processing in spiral galaxies is studied in this dissertation. Of particular interest are questions of how the (N/O) ratio changes over time as a result of perturbations of environmental parameters, as well as the importance of primary vs. secondary nitrogen generation and the regimes where one may be the preferred method. A robust numerical chemical evolution code (NICE) was written to model the change in elemental ratios during galactic chemical processing. This code is consistent with standard observational constraints. A new method is developed for the calculation of (N/O) abundances in the absence of observed temperature-diagnostic emission lines. New (N/O) abundances are derived for previously observed HII regions in spiral and dwarf galaxies, and the trends noted in the observations are modeled with the numeric code NICE. I conclude it is likely that early-type spirals once had a higher rate of infalling material relative to late-type galaxies, resulting in both a higher (N/O) ratio as well as a lower gas fraction during later epochs. NICE models also suggest that the star formation rate was suppressed in the extremely metal-poor stages of galaxy chemical processing, as shown by the model fits to the I Zw 18 regions as well as a highly redshifted primeval galaxy. Primary nitrogen production is only realized in stars of 4-8 solar masses, so that this is the first source of nitrogen after an episode of star formation. This is seen in both the observations and the models of low-metallicity dwarf galaxies. At later times, secondary nitrogen is released by stars in the lower mass range (1-4 solar masses), contributing to the steeper slope seen in (N/O) vs. O/H for the more chemically advanced spiral galaxies.x, 171 leaves :Cosmic abundances.Spiral galaxies.Physics, Astronomy and Astrophysics.Nitrogen Evolution.Thesis