The Standard Solar Model (SSM) is no more sufficient to interpret all the observations of the radiative zone obtained with the SoHO satellite. We recall our present knowledge of this internal region and compare the recent results to models beyond the
SSM assumptions. Then we discuss the missing processes and quantify some of them in using young analog observations to build a more realistic view of our star. This progress will be useful for solar-like stars observed by COROT and KEPLER.
The energetic balance of the Standard Solar Model (SSM) results from an equilibrium between nuclear energy production, energy transfer, and photospheric emission. In this letter, we derive an order of magnitude of several % for the loss of energy in
kinetic energy, magnetic energy, and X or UV radiation during the whole solar lifetime from the observations of the present Sun. We also estimate the mass loss from the observations of young solar analogs which could reach up to 30% of the current mass. We deduce new models of the present Sun, their associated neutrino fluxes, and their internal sound-speed profile. This approach sheds quantitative lights on the disagreement between the sound speed obtained by helioseismology and the sound speed derived from the SSM including the updated photospheric CNO abundances, based on recent observations. We conclude that about 20% of the present discrepancy could come from the incorrect description of the early phases of the Sun, its activity, its initial mass and mass-loss history. This study has obvious consequences on the solar system formation and the early evolution of the closest planets.
Solar activity and helioseismology show the limitation of the standard solar model and call for the inclusion of dynamical processes in both convective and radiative zones. We concentrate here on the radiative zone and first show the sensitivity of b
oron neutrinos to the microscopic physics included in solar models. We confront the neutrino predictions of the seismic model to all the detected neutrino fluxes. Then we compute new models of the Sun including a detailed transport of angular momentum and chemicals due to internal rotation that includes meridional circulation and shear induced turbulence. We use two stellar evolution codes: CESAM and STAREVOL to estimate the different terms. We follow three temporal evolutions of the internal rotation differing by their initial conditions: very slow, moderate and fast rotation, with magnetic braking at the arrival on the main sequence for the last two. We find that the meridional velocity in the present solar radiative zone is extremely small in comparison with those of the convective zone, smaller than 10^-6 cm/s instead of m/s. All models lead to a radial differential rotation profile but with a significantly different contrast. We compare these profiles to the presumed solar internal rotation and show that if meridional circulation and shear turbulence were the only mechanisms transporting angular momentum within the Sun, a rather slow rotation in the young Sun is favored. The transport by rotation slightly influence the sound speed profile but its potential impact on the chemicals in the transition region between radiation and convective zones. This work pushes us to pursue the inclusion of the other dynamical processes to better reproduce the present observable and to describe the young active Sun. We also need to get a better knowledge of solar gravity mode splittings to use their constraints.
The symposium has shown the dynamism of this rapidly evolving discipline. I shall concentrate here on some highlights and some complementary informations. I conclude on open questions with some perspectives on solar & stellar activity and related planets.
Several works have reported changes of the Suns subsurface stratification inferred from f-mode or p-mode observations. Recently a non-homologous variation of the subsurface layers with depth and time has been deduced from f-modes. Progress on this im
portant transition zone between the solar interior and the external part supposes a good understanding of the interplay between the different processes which contribute to this variation. This paper is the first of a series where we aim to study these layers from the theoretical point of view. For this first paper, we use solar models obtained with the CESAM code, in its classical form, and analyze the properties of the computed theoretical f-modes. We examine how a pure variation in the calibrated radius influences the subsurface structure and we show also the impact of an additional change of composition on the same layers. Then we use an inversion procedure to quantify the corresponding f-mode variation and their capacity to infer the radius variation. We deduce an estimate of the amplitude of the 11-year cyclic photospheric radius variation.
Gravity modes are the best probes to study the solar radiative zone dynamics, especially in the nuclear core. These modes remain difficult to observe, but they are essential ingredients for progressing on the evolution of the Sun-Earth relationship a
t the level of centuries. Today, the knowledge of the internal dynamics comes from acoustic modes and concerns mainly the external 2% of the solar mass. Nevertheless, the flat rotation profile of the radiative zone compels physics beyond the standard framework. I summarize different attempts to look for gravity modes and the results obtained after 8 years of observation with the GOLF/SoHO instrument. Some gravity mode candidates (at 1mm/s level) have appeared with more than 98% confidence level as quadruplets or quintuplets. These patterns, if confirmed as gravity modes, may reveal very exciting physics of the solar core. Getting information on rotation and magnetic field in the solar core are real keys to simulate a complete dynamical solar picture. The understanding of the solar dynamics, the precise energetic balance and its temporal evolution necessitate more observations of the radiative zone which constitutes 98% of the Sun by mass. Our expertise in Doppler velocity measurements allows a step further and a new instrumental concept to reach velocities as low as 0.1 mm/s. A prototype will join the Tenerife site in 2006 and a space version is proposed to CNES and ESA as a microsatellite or part of a payload at the L1 Lagrange point.
