The observed properties of the intermediate-degree gravity modes and their relevance to the solar neutrino paradox.

Abstract

Intermediate-degree g-modes (those with angular order ℓ ≈ 30) were first observed in the late 1970's by Hill and Caudell (1979). However, it wasn't until 1986 that a preliminary survey was made of the 1979 differential radius observations (see Bos 1982) and a set of 4 multiplets exhibiting mode-locking was classified by Hill (1986). These multiplets with angular order ℓ ≈ 30 and eigenfrequencies of ≈350 μHz were used as a starting point for the comprehensive analysis discussed in this work. This comprehensive study culminated in the classification of a set of 20 intermediate-degree g-mode multiplets containing over 600 normal modes of oscillation. Each of these multiplets was found to contain mode-coupled sections. Of more importance, however, are the internal properties of the Sun that can be inferred from this large body of classified modes. In this work two significant consequences will be discussed. Because these modes of oscillation are localized within the inner 50% of the Sun by radius and because of their large temperature eigenfunctions implied by the observed phase-locking, these modes of oscillation provide a modification of the effective temperature profile defined for a given process in the Sun. One of these processes is the ⁸B neutrino production. The second consequence of these observations is a predicted periodic modulation of the neutrino production rates. The existence of a large set of mode-coupled gravity modes will lead to a low-frequency modulation of neutrino production rates which may account for the observed periodicity in the ⁸B neutrino production (see Haubold and Gerth 1985). The prediction of this periodicity in the neutrino production rates is unique among all the competing theories that resolve the solar neutrino paradox and is testable by the new generation of solar neutrino detectors.