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Register a new userHelioseismic Constraints on the Solar Ne/O Ratio and Heavy Element Abundances
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We examine the constraints imposed by helioseismic data on the solar heavy element abundances. In prior work we argued that the measured depth of the surface convection zone R_CZ and the surface helium abundance Y_surf were good metallicity indicators which placed separable constraints on light metals (CNONe) and the heavier species with good relative meteoritic abundances. The resulting interiors-based abundance scale was higher than some published studies based on 3D model atmospheres at a highly significant level. In this paper we explore the usage of the solar sound speed in the radiative interior as an additional diagnostic, and find that it is sensitive to changes in the Ne/O ratio even for models constructed to have the same R_CZ and Y_surf. Three distinct helioseismic tests (opacity in the radiative core, ionization in the convection zone, and the core mean molecular weight) yield consistent results. Our preferred O, Ne and Fe abundances are 8.86 +/-0.04, 8.15 +/-0.17 and 7.50 +/-0.05 respectively. They are consistent with the midrange of recently published 3D atmospheric abundances measurements. The values for O, Ne and Fe which combine interiors and atmospheric inferences are 8.83 +/-0.04, 8.08 +/-0.09 and 7.49 +/-0.04 respectively.
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The latest solar atmosphere models include non-LTE corrections and 3D hydrodynamic convection simulations. These models predict a significant reduction in the solar metal abundance, which leads to a serious conflict between helioseismic data and the predictions of solar interiors models. We demonstrate that the helioseismic constraints on the surface convection zone depth and helium abundance combined with stellar interiors models can be used to define the goodness of fit for a given chemical composition. After a detailed examination of the errors in the theoretical models we conclude that models constructed with the older solar abundances are consistent (<2 sigma) with the seismic data. Models constructed with the proposed new low abundance scale are strongly disfavored, disagreeing at the 15 sigma level. We then use the sensitivity of the seismic properties to abundance changes to invert the problem and infer a seismic solar heavy element abundance mix with two components: meteoritic abundances, and the light metals CNONe. Seismic degeneracies between the best solutions for the elements arise for changes in the relative CNONe abundances and their effects are quantified. We obtain Fe/H=7.50+/-0.045+/-0.003(CNNe) and O/H=8.86+/-0.041+/-0.025(CNNe) for the relative CNNe in the GS98 mixture. The inferred solar oxygen abundance disagree with the abundance inferred from the 3D hydro models. Changes in the Ne abundance can mimic changes in O for the purposes of scalar constraints.Models constructed with low oxygen and high neon are inconsistent with the solar sound speed profile. The implications for the solar abundance scale are discussed.
Helioseismology provides important constraints for the solar dynamo problem. However, the basic properties and even the depth of the dynamo process, which operates also in other stars, are unknown. Most of the dynamo models suggest that the toroidal magnetic field that emerges on the surface and forms sunspots is generated near the bottom of the convection zone, in the tachocline. However, there is a number of theoretical and observational problems with justifying the deep-seated dynamo models. This leads to the idea that the subsurface angular velocity shear may play an important role in the solar dynamo. Using helioseismology measurements of the internal rotation and meridional circulation, we investigate a mean-field MHD model of dynamo distributed in the bulk of the convection zone but shaped in a near-surface layer. We show that if the boundary conditions at the top of the dynamo region allow the large-scale toroidal magnetic fields to penetrate into the surface, then the dynamo wave propagates along the isosurface of angular velocity in the subsurface shear layer, forming the butterfly diagram in agreement with the Parker-Yoshimura rule and solar-cycle observations. Unlike the flux-transport dynamo models, this model does not depend on the transport of magnetic field by meridional circulation at the bottom of the convection zone, and works well when the meridional circulation forms two cells in radius, as recently indicated by deep-focus time-distance helioseismology analysis of the SDO/HMI and SOHO/MDI data. We compare the new dynamo model with various characteristics if the solar magnetic cycles, including the cycle asymmetry (Waldmeiers relations) and magnetic `butterfly diagrams.
X-ray spectra in the range $1.5-8.5$~keV have been analyzed for 526 large flares detected with the Solar Assembly for X-rays (SAX) on the Mercury {em MESSENGER} spacecraft between 2007 and 2013. For each flare, the temperature and emission measure of the emitting plasma were determined from the spectrum of the continuum. In addition, with the SAX energy resolution of 0.6 keV (FWHM) at 6~keV, the intensities of the clearly resolved Fe-line complex at 6.7~keV and the Ca-line complex at 3.9~keV were determined, along with those of unresolved line complexes from S, Si, and Ar at lower energies. Comparisons of these line intensities with theoretical spectra allow the abundances of these elements relative to hydrogen to be derived, with uncertainties due to instrument calibration and the unknown temperature distribution of the emitting plasma. While significant deviations are found for the abundances of Fe and Ca from flare to flare, the abundances averaged over all flares are found to be enhanced over photospheric values by factors of $1.66 pm 0.34$ (Fe), $3.89~pm~0.76$ (Ca), $1.23~pm~0.45$ (S), $1.64~pm~0.66$ (Si), and $2.48~pm~0.90$ (Ar). These factors differ from previous reported values for Fe and Si at least. They suggest a more complex relation of abundance enhancement with the first ionization potential (FIP) of the element than previously considered, with the possibility that fractionation occurs in flares for elements with a FIP of less than $sim$7~eV rather than $sim10$~eV.
We have obtained [Mg/Fe] measurements for 76.3% of the stars in the MILES spectral library used for understanding stellar atmospheres and stellar populations in galaxies and star clusters. These abundance ratios were obtained through (1) a compilation of values from the literature using abundances from high-resolution spectroscopic studies and (2) a robust spectroscopic analysis using the MILES mid-resolution optical spectra. All the [Mg/Fe] values were carefully calibrated to a single uniform scale, by using an extensive control sample with results from high-resolution spectra. The small average uncertainties in the calibrated [Mg/Fe] values (respectively 0.09 and 0.12 dex with methods (1) and (2)) and the good coverage of the stars with [Mg/Fe] over stellar atmospheric parameter space of the library will permit the building of new simple stellar populations (SSPs) with empirical $alpha$-enhancements. These will be available for a range of [Mg/Fe], including both sub-solar and super-solar values, and for several metallicities and ages. These models will open up new prospects for testing and applications of evolutionary stellar population synthesis.
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