No Evidence Supporting Flare Driven High-Frequency Global Oscillations

TL;DR

This study investigates whether solar flares drive high-frequency global oscillations and finds no consistent evidence supporting such a connection, challenging previous claims of correlation.

Contribution

The paper provides a comprehensive analysis using GONG data to test the flare-oscillation link, finding no significant association contrary to earlier studies.

Findings

No consistent increase in acoustic power post-flare

Variations are mainly due to normal solar convection p-modes

No evidence of flare-driven high-frequency waves

Abstract

The underlying physics that generates the excitations in the global low-frequency, < 5.3 mHz, solar acoustic power spectrum is a well known process that is attributed to solar convection; However, a definitive explanation as to what causes excitations in the high-frequency regime, > 5.3 mHz, has yet to be found. Karoff and Kjeldsen (Astrophys. J. 678, 73-76, 2008) concluded that there is a correlation between solar flares and the global high-frequency solar acoustic waves. We have used the Global Oscillations Network Group (GONG) helioseismic data in an attempt to verify Karoff and Kjeldsen (2008) results as well as compare the post-flare acoustic power spectrum to the pre-flare acoustic power spectrum for 31 solar flares. Among the 31 flares analyzed, we observe that a decrease in acoustic power after the solar flare is just as likely as an increase. Furthermore, while we do observe variations in acoustic power that are most likely associated with the usual p-modes associated with solar convection, these variations do not show any significant temporal association with flares. We find no evidence that consistently supports flare driven high-frequency waves.