Helioseismic inference of the solar radiative opacity

The Sun is the most studied of all stars, and thus constitutes a benchmark for stellar models. However, our vision of the Sun is still incomplete, as illustrated by the current debate on its chemical composition. The problem reaches far beyond chemical abundances and is intimately linked to microscopic and macroscopic physical ingredients of solar models such as radiative opacity, for which experimental results have been recently measured that still await theoretical explanations. We present opacity profiles derived from helioseismic inferences and compare them with detailed theoretical computations of individual element contributions using three different opacity computation codes, in a complementary way to experimental results. We find that our seismic opacity is about 10% higher than theoretical values used in current solar models around 2 million degrees, but lower by 35% than some recent available theoretical values. Using the Sun as a laboratory of fundamental physics, we show that quantitative comparisons between various opacity tables are required to understand the origin of the discrepancies between reported helioseismic, theoretical and experimental opacity values.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2025-01-27
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54793-y
Citations
9
Primary Topic
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
10.39

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Helioseismic inference of the solar radiative opacity

C. Blancard, G. Buldgen, S. V. Ayukov, J. Christensen‐Dalsgaard et al.
9 citations
Nature Communications
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
10.39
article

Helioseismic inference of the solar radiative opacity

C. Blancard, G. Buldgen, S. V. Ayukov, J. Christensen‐Dalsgaard, Morgan Deal, P. Hakel, Y. Lebreton, F. Gilleron, A. Noels, D. P. Kilcrease, T. Corbard, R. Scuflaire, Ph. Cossé, J. Colgan, P. Eggenberger, Anil K. Pradhan, Jean‐Christophe Pain, Christopher J. Fontes, C. Pinçon, Anna V. Oreshina, V. A. Baturin
article en
9 citations

Abstract

The Sun is the most studied of all stars, and thus constitutes a benchmark for stellar models. However, our vision of the Sun is still incomplete, as illustrated by the current debate on its chemical composition. The problem reaches far beyond chemical abundances and is intimately linked to microscopic and macroscopic physical ingredients of solar models such as radiative opacity, for which experimental results have been recently measured that still await theoretical explanations. We present opacity profiles derived from helioseismic inferences and compare them with detailed theoretical computations of individual element contributions using three different opacity computation codes, in a complementary way to experimental results. We find that our seismic opacity is about 10% higher than theoretical values used in current solar models around 2 million degrees, but lower by 35% than some recent available theoretical values. Using the Sun as a laboratory of fundamental physics, we show that quantitative comparisons between various opacity tables are required to understand the origin of the discrepancies between reported helioseismic, theoretical and experimental opacity values.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 16(1)
University of Geneva (CH), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Los Alamos National Laboratory (US), University of Liège (BE), Universidade do Porto (PT), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (FR), Lomonosov Moscow State University (RU), Université de Montpellier (FR), Université Côte d'Azur (FR), Aarhus University (DK), Université Paris Cité (FR), Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (FR), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (FR), Université Paris-Saclay (FR), Observatoire de Paris (FR), Sorbonne Université (FR), Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences (PT), Laboratoire Univers et Particules de Montpellier (FR), CEA DAM Île-de-France (FR), Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale (FR), Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto (PT), Institut de Physique de Rennes (FR), Lagrange Laboratory (FR), Institut de Biologie Valrose (FR), Laboratoire d’études spatiales et d’instrumentation en astrophysique (FR), Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur (FR), CEA Paris-Saclay (FR), The Ohio State University (US), Université de Rennes (FR)
National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Stellar Astrophysics Centre, European Commission, National Research Foundation, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Danmarks Grundforskningsfond, Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse, Lomonosov Moscow State University, National Nuclear Security Administration, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Climate action
Openalex Percentile: Top 2%
Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
10.39
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.