How much do helioseismological inferences depend upon the assumed reference model?

Abstract

We investigate systematic uncertainties in determining the profiles of the solar sound speed, density, and adiabatic index by helioseismological techniques. We find that rms uncertainties-averaged over the sun of ~ 0.2%-0.4% are contributed to the sound speed profile by each of three sources: 1)the choice of assumed reference model, 2) the width of the inversion kernel, and 3) the measurements errors. The density profile is about an order of magnitude less well determined by the helioseismological measurements. The profile of the adiabatic index is determined to an accuracy of about 0.2% . We find that even relatively crude reference models yield reasonably accurate solar parameters.

Accepted for publication in ApJ . Related material at http://www.sns.ias.edu/~jnb

Cited by in corpus (80)

• PARSEC: stellar tracks and isochrones with the PAdova and TRieste Stellar Evolution Code
• Solar Models: current epoch and time dependences, neutrinos, and helioseismological properties
• Helioseismology
• Helioseismology and Solar Abundances
• A new Generation of Standard Solar Models
• Helioseismological Implications of Recent Solar Abundance Determinations
• Constraining solar abundances using helioseismology
• 10,000 Standard Solar Models: a Monte Carlo Simulation
• CLES, Code Liegeois d'Evolution Stellaire
• A New Generation of Los Alamos Opacity Tables
• CESAM: a free code for stellar evolution calculations
• Global three-neutrino oscillation analysis of neutrino data
• The Distances to Open Clusters from Main-Sequence Fitting. III. Improved Accuracy with Empirically Calibrated Isochrones
• Fresh insights on the structure of the solar core
• Global Seismology of the Sun
• The Solar Heavy Element Abundances: I. Constraints from Stellar Interiors
• New axion and hidden photon constraints from a solar data global fit
• Determination of stellar radii from asteroseismic Data
• What Is The Neon Abundance Of The Sun?
• The Helium abundance and Delta Y / Delta Z in Lower Main Sequence stars
• Solar structure and evolution
• Can Enhanced Diffusion Improve Helioseismic Agreement for Solar Models with Revised Abundances?
• Our Sun. V. A Bright Young Sun Consistent with Helioseismology and Warm Temperatures on Ancient Earth and Mars
• Abundances in Stars from the Red Giant Branch Tip to Near the Main Sequence Turn Off in M5
• Gravitational Settling of 22Ne in Liquid White Dwarf Interiors
• The chemical composition of the Sun from helioseismic and solar neutrino data
• Heavy Element Diffusion in Metal Poor Stars
• Exploring mass loss, low-Z accretion, and convective overshoot in solar models to mitigate the solar abundance problem
• A Critical Examination of Li Pollution and Giant Planet Consumption by a Host Star
• Solar abundances and helioseismology: fine structure spacings and separation ratios of low-degree p modes
• Observational Tests and Predictive Stellar Evolution II: Non-standard Models
• The Distances to Open Clusters from Main-Sequence Fitting. IV. Galactic Cepheids, the LMC, and the Local Distance Scale
• Solar heavy element abundance: constraints from frequency separation ratios of low-degree p modes
• Test of Nonextensive Statistical Mechanics by Solar Sound Speeds
• The Sensitivity of Convection Zone Depth to Stellar Abundances: An Absolute Stellar Abundance Scale from Asteroseismology
• The Distances to Open Clusters from Main-Sequence Fitting. I. New Models and a Comparison to the Properties of the Hyades Eclipsing Binary vB 22
• Light WIMPs in the Sun: Constraints from Helioseismology
• Population Synthesis in the Blue II. The Spectroscopic Age of 47 Tucanae
• Confronting Spin Flavor Solutions of the Solar Neutrino Problem with current and future solar neutrino data
• Does Solar Physics Provide Constraints to Weakly Interacting Massive Particles?
• Our Sun. IV. The Standard Model and Helioseismology: Consequences of Uncertainties in Input Physics and in Observed Solar Parameters
• Theoretical Uncertainties in Red Giant Branch Evolution: The Red Giant Branch Bump
• Seismic Test of Solar Models, Solar Neutrinos and Implications for Metal-Rich Accretion
• Solar Models with Revised Abundances and Opacities
• The Non-Homologous Nature of Solar Diameter Variations
• Red Giant evolution and specific problems
• Model-independent measurement of internal stellar structure in 16 Cygni A and B
• A non-resonant dark-side solution to the solar neutrino problem
• Global and Unified Analysis of Solar Neutrino Data
• Phenomenology of Maximal and Near-Maximal Lepton Mixing
• Zenith angle distributions at Super-Kamiokande and SNO and the solution of the solar neutrino problem
• How accurate are stellar ages based on stellar models? II. The impact of asteroseismology
• Solar models and electron screening
• Stellar model fits and inversions
• Modeling the Asteroseismic Surface Term across the HR Diagram
• Is the Dark Disc contribution to Dark Matter Signals important ?
• Searching for dark energy with the Sun
• On the Size of the Dark Side of the Solar Neutrino Parameter Space
• 2-D Stellar Evolution Code Including Arbitrary Magnetic Fields. I. Mathematical Techniques and Test Cases
• Angular momentum transport and element mixing in the stellar interior I. Application to the rotating Sun
• The Sun in Time: Age, Rotation, and Magnetic Activity of the Sun and Solar-type Stars and Effects on Hosted Planets
• The Distances to Open Clusters from Main-Sequence Fitting. V. Extension of Color Calibration and Test using Cool and Metal-Rich Stars in NGC 6791
• 85Peg A: which age for a low metallicity solar like star?
• Asteroseismic Inference of the Central Structure in a Subgiant Star
• Helioseismology and screening of nuclear reactions in the Sun
• Selected topics in the evolution of low-mass stars
• The Sun and the Newton Constant
• Solar Gravity Modes: Present and Future
• Global metallicity of globular cluster stars from colour-magnitude diagrams
• Can three-flavor oscillations solve the solar neutrino problem?
• Open issues in probing interiors of solar-like oscillating main sequence stars 1. From the Sun to nearly suns
• Anticipating the Sun's heavy-element abundance
• Rotating Solar Models in Agreement with Helioseismic Results and Updated Neutrino Fluxes
• On Exact Polytropic Equilibria of Self-Gravitating Gaseous and Radiative Systems: Their Application to Molecular Cloud Condensation
• Inverse analysis of asteroseismic data: a review
• Neutrino Oscillations and the Early Universe
• New Globular Cluster Age Estimates and Constraints on the Cosmic Equation of State and The Matter Density of the Universe
• Asteroseismic constraints on the OPAL opacity interpolation
• Challenges in Solar and Stellar Model Physics
• Testing the 3-equation Kuhfuss Convection Model using the Sun