On solar models and their periods of oscillation

Abstract

Accurate calculations of solar models and their oscillation periods are needed if the observed oscillation periods of the Sun are to be used to infer properties of the solar interior. The paper describes a new programme for calculation of solar evolution sequences; an analysis of the numerical accuracy of the computed models is given, and the effects of changing the opacity interpolation or opacity tables are investigated. In addition selected periods of adiabatic oscillations for the models are calculated and the errors in these periods estimated. For the modes corresponding to the observed whole disc 5 min oscillations the relative error in the computed periods, given the physics in the model calculation, is around $$1.7 \times 10^{-3}.$$ This value is significantly smaller than the difference in periods between models computed with the Cox & Tabor (1976) and the Carson (1976) opacities.