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Session 122 - The Sun.
Oral session, Thursday, January 18
Salon del Rey South, Hilton
Because of the high observational accuracy of thousands of solar p-mode oscillation frequencies, comparisons between observed and calculated frequencies are an excellent means of testing solar interior physics. We compare observed and calculated nonadiabatic oscillation frequencies of standard solar models that include: (i) both helium and heavier element diffusion; (ii) the latest OPAL opacity tables and Alexander amp; Ferguson (1994) low-temperature opacities; and (iii) either the MHD (Mihalas et al. 1988) or OPAL (Rogers, Swenson, amp; Iglesias 1995) equation of state. We have already used such comparisons to determine the radius of the convection zone base (0.712\pm 0.001 R_ødot), to determine the envelope helium abundance (Y\sim 0.24, which validates our helium diffusion estimates), and to rule out early mass loss and turbulent mixing below the convection zone as solutions to the solar lithium depletion problem.
The observed and calculated nonadiabatic frequencies of our models agree to within a few microhertz out of 2000, but there is a systematic decrease in the observed minus calculated frequencies with increasing frequency. We can remove most of this residual by modifying the structure of the model superadiabatic layers at temperatures less than 12,000 K, either by increasing the low-temperature opacities or by alternative convection treatments. Remaining residuals for high-degree (\ell >100) modes are reduced by including turbulent pressure, and the OPAL EOS. Residuals for high-frequency modes (>3600 \muHz) can be reduced by incorporating a nonequilibrium diffusion treatment in the frequency calculations.
