Seismic Sounding of Convection in the Sun

2015/03/27 by Shravan Hanasoge, Laurent Gizon, L. Gizon +1 · 111 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Astrophysics #Combined forced and natural convection #Convection #Convection cell #Convection zone #Geophysics #Helioseismology #Magnetic field #Mechanics #Natural convection #Physics #Prandtl number #Radiation zone #Rayleigh number #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph.EP #astro-ph.SR #physics.ao-ph #physics.flu-dyn #physics.space-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1146/annurev-fluid-122414-034534

published in Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics 48(1), 191-217 (Annual Reviews) · 29 pages, 12 figures, in review, Annual Reviews of Fluid Mechanics

arxiv created 2015/03/27 · openalex publication_date 2016/01/03 · arxiv updated 2016/01/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

Thermal convection is the dominant mechanism of energy transport in the outer envelope of the Sun (one-third by radius). It drives global fluid circulations and magnetic fields observed on the solar surface. Vigorous surface convection excites a broadband spectrum of acoustic waves that propagate within the interior and set up modal resonances. These acoustic waves, also called seismic waves in this context, are observed at the surface of the Sun by space-and ground-based telescopes. Seismic sounding, the study of these seismic waves to infer the internal properties of the Sun, constitutes helioseismology. Here we review our knowledge of solar convection, especially that obtained through seismic inference. Several characteristics of solar convection, such as differential rotation, anisotropic Reynolds stresses, the influence of rotation on convection, and supergranulation, are considered. On larger scales, several inferences suggest that convective velocities are substantially smaller than those predicted by theory and simulations. This discrepancy challenges the models of internal differential rotation that rely on convective stresses as a driving mechanism and provide an important benchmark for numerical simulations.

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• The imaginary part of the scattering Green function: monochromatic relations to the real part and uniqueness results for inverse problems
• Global and local statistics in turbulent convection at low Prandtl numbers
• Driving Solar Giant Cells through the Self-organization of Near-surface Plumes
• Turbulent pressure of magnetoconvection for slow and rapid rotation
• Convective Velocity Suppression via the Enhancement of the Subadiabatic Layer: Role of the Effective Prandtl Number

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