AM Seminar: Why do we care about inertial waves on the Sun?

Presenter: Ms. Catherine Blume, University of Colorado-Boulder

Description: Recent observations of Rossby waves and other inertial oscillations in the Sun’s convection zone have kindled the hope that such waves might be used as a seismic probe of the Sun’s interior. Here, we present a 3D numerical simulation in spherical geometry that models the Sun’s convection zone and upper radiative interior. This model features a wide variety of inertial oscillations, including both sectoral and tesseral Rossby waves, retrograde mixed inertial modes, prograde thermal Rossby waves, and the recently observed high-frequency retrograde (HFR) vorticity modes. In this talk, we’ll explore these different waves, their physical impact, and their potential helioseismic utility.

Bio: Catherine Blume is an astrophysics PhD student at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she works with Brad Hindman studying solar inertial waves.

Hosted by: Professor Julie Simons