We compute f-mode travel-time sensitivity kernels for flows. Using a two-dimensional model, we show that it is important to account for several systematic effects, such as the foreshortening and the projection of the velocity vector onto the line of sight. Correcting for these effects is necessary before any data inversion is attempted away from the center of the solar disk.
Time-distance helioseismology has shown that f-mode travel times contain information about horizontal flows in the Sun. The purpose of this study is to provide a simple interpretation of these travel times. We study the interaction of surface-gravity waves with horizontal flows in an incompressible, plane-parallel solar atmosphere. We show that for uniform flows less than roughly 250 m s$^{-1}$, the travel-time shifts are linear in the flow amplitude. For stronger flows, perturbation theory up to third order is needed to model waveforms. The case of small-amplitude spatially-varying flows is treated using the first-order Born approximation. We derive two-dimensional Fr{e}chet kernels that give the sensitivity of travel-time shifts to local flows. We show that the effect of flows on travel times depends on wave damping and on the direction from which the observations are made. The main physical effect is the advection of the waves by the flow rather than the advection of wave sources or the effect of flows on wave damping. We compare the two-dimensional sensitivity kernels with simplified three-dimensional kernels that only account for wave advection and assume a vertical line of sight. We find that the three-dimensional f-mode kernels approximately separate in the horizontal and vertical coordinates, with the horizontal variations given by the simplified two-dimensional kernels. This consistency between quite different models gives us confidence in the usefulness of these kernels for interpreting quiet-Sun observations.
Time-distance helioseismology is a technique for measuring the time for waves to travel from one point on the solar surface to another. These wave travel times are affected by advection by subsurface flows. Inferences of plasma flows based on observed travel times depend critically on the ability to accurately model the effects of subsurface flows on time-distance measurements. We present a Born approximation based computation of the sensitivity of time distance travel times to weak, steady, inhomogeneous subsurface flows. Three sensitivity functions are obtained, one for each component of the 3D vector flow. We show that the depth sensitivity of travel times to horizontally uniform flows is given approximately by the kinetic energy density of the oscillation modes which contribute to the travel times. For flows with strong depth dependence, the Born approximation can give substantially different results than the ray approximation.
We compute f-mode sensitivity kernels for flows. Using a two-dimensional model, the scattered wavefield is calculated in the first Born approximation. We test the correctness of the kernels by comparing an exact solution (constant flow), a solution linearized in the flow, and the total integral of the kernel. In practice, the linear approximation is acceptable for flows as large as about 400 m/s.
We report a systematic strengthening of the local solar surface or fundamental $f$-mode $1$-$2$ days prior to the emergence of an active region (AR) in the same (corotating) location. Except for a possibly related increase in the kurtosis of the magnetic field, no indication can be seen in the magnetograms at that time. Our study is motivated by earlier numerical findings of Singh et al. (2014) which showed that, in the presence of a nonuniform magnetic field that is concentrated a few scale heights below the surface, the $f$-mode fans out in the diagnostic $komega$ diagram at high wavenumbers. Here we explore this possibility using data from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory and show for six isolated ARs, 11130, 11158, 11242, 11105, 11072, and 11768, that at large latitudinal wavenumbers (corresponding to horizontal scales of around 3000 km), the $f$-mode displays strengthening about two days prior to AR formation and thus provides a new precursor for AR formation. Furthermore, we study two ARs, 12051 and 11678, apart from a magnetically quiet patch lying next to AR~12529, to demonstrate the challenges in extracting such a precursor signal when a newly forming AR emerges in a patch that lies in close proximity of one or several already existing ARs which are expected to pollute neighboring patches. We then discuss plausible procedures for extracting precursor signals from regions with crowded environments. The idea that the $f$-mode is perturbed days before any visible magnetic activity occurs at the surface can be important in constraining dynamo models aimed at understanding the global magnetic activity of the Sun.
We study the strategic interaction among vehicles in a non-cooperative platoon coordination game. Vehicles have predefined routes in a transportation network with a set of hubs where vehicles can wait for other vehicles to form platoons. Vehicles decide on their waiting times at hubs and the utility function of each vehicle includes both the benefit from platooning and the cost of waiting. We show that the platoon coordination game is a potential game when the travel times are either deterministic or stochastic, and the vehicles decide on their waiting times at the beginning of their journeys. We also propose two feedback solutions for the coordination problem when the travel times are stochastic and vehicles are allowed to update their strategies along their routes. The solutions are evaluated in a simulation study over the Swedish road network. It is shown that uncertainty in travel times affects the total benefit of platooning drastically and the benefit from platooning in the system increases significantly when utilizing feedback solutions.