Seismic study of the chemical composition of the solar convection zone

Abstract

Recent downward revision of solar heavy-element abundances using three-dimensional atmospheric model has introduced serious discrepancies between standard solar models and helioseismic inferences about solar structure. In this paper, we investigate the possibility of determining the heavy-element abundances using helioseismic inversion techniques with the hope of providing an independent estimate. We use the adiabatic index, Gamma_1 (logarithmic partial derivative of pressure with respect to density at constant entropy) as a probe to examine the effects of the total heavy-element abundance, as well as the effects due to the abundance of individual elements. Our inversion results show that the new, lower, abundance increases the discrepancy between the Sun and the solar models.

arXiv commentAccepted for publication in ApJ

References in corpus (21)

• Solar Models: current epoch and time dependences, neutrinos, and helioseismological properties
• Solar Models with Helium and Heavy Element Diffusion
• Line formation in solar granulation: IV. [O I], OI and OH lines and the photospheric O abundance
• Helioseismology
• A Reappraisal of the Solar Photospheric C/O Ratio
• Helioseismological Implications of Recent Solar Abundance Determinations
• Constraining solar abundances using helioseismology
• Surprising Sun
• New Solar Seismic Models and the Neutrino Puzzle
• Solar Carbon Monoxide, Thermal Profiling, and the Abundances of C, O, and their Isotopes
• What Is The Neon Abundance Of The Sun?
• The discrepancy between solar abundances and helioseismology
• Can Enhanced Diffusion Improve Helioseismic Agreement for Solar Models with Revised Abundances?
• Determining solar abundances using helioseismology
• Solar abundances and helioseismology: fine structure spacings and separation ratios of low-degree p modes
• Seismic tests for solar models with tachocline mixing
• On the choice of parameters in solar structure inversion
• Low abundances of heavy elements in the solar outer layers: comparisons of solar models with helioseismic inversions
• Helioseismic analysis of the hydrogen partition function in the solar interior
• Our Sun. IV. The Standard Model and Helioseismology: Consequences of Uncertainties in Input Physics and in Observed Solar Parameters
• Updated Toulouse solar models including the diffusion-circulation coupling and the effect of $\mu$-gradients

Cited by in corpus (21)

• Helioseismology and Solar Abundances
• A new Generation of Standard Solar Models
• The FIP and Inverse FIP Effects in Solar and Stellar Coronae
• New axion and hidden photon constraints from a solar data global fit
• On the opacity change required to compensate for the revised solar composition
• Center-to-Limb Variation of Solar 3-D Hydrodynamical Simulations
• Solar structure and evolution
• Seismic and dynamical solar models i-the impact of the solar rotation history on neutrinos and seismic indicators
• The chemical composition of the Sun from helioseismic and solar neutrino data
• Exploring mass loss, low-Z accretion, and convective overshoot in solar models to mitigate the solar abundance problem
• The Future of Solar Neutrinos
• Alive and well: a short review about standard solar models
• The Impact of Recent Advances in Laboratory Astrophysics on our Understanding of the Cosmos
• New Results on Standard Solar Models
• Solar models with convective overshoot, the solar-wind mass loss, and a PMS disk accretion: helioseismic quantities, Li depletion and neutrino fluxes
• The solar energetic balance revisited by young solar analogs, helioseismology and neutrinos
• Perspectives in Global Helioseismology, and the Road Ahead
• Selected topics in the evolution of low-mass stars
• Standard solar models: a perspective from updated solar neutrino fluxes and the gravity-mode period spacing
• Neon Insights from Old Solar X-rays: a Plasma Temperature Dependence of the Coronal Neon Content
• Ionization of heavy elements and the adiabatic exponent in the solar plasma