Constraining Global Solar Models through Helioseismic Analysis

TL;DR

This study uses helioseismic analysis and numerical simulations to constrain models of the Sun's internal flow patterns, revealing the importance of surface convection in replicating observed solar differential rotation.

Contribution

It introduces a forward-modeling approach combining global simulations with helioseismic data to better constrain solar interior flow models, especially meridional circulation profiles.

Findings

Models replicate differential rotation but show multi-cell meridional circulation inconsistent with observations.

Unconstrained surface convection maintains differential rotation and matches helioseismic signals.

Helioseismic travel-time signals are sensitive to near-surface convection dynamics.

Abstract

Global hydrodynamic simulations of internal solar dynamics have focused on replicating the conditions for solar-like differential rotation and meridional circulation using the results of helioseismic inversions as a constraint. Inferences of meridional circulation, however, have provided controversial results showing the possibility of one, two, or multiple cells along the radius. To resolve this controversy and develop a more robust understanding of global flow regimes in the solar interior, we apply a "forward-modeling" approach to the analysis of helioseismic signatures of meridional circulation profiles obtained from numerical simulations. We employ the global acoustic modeling code GALE to simulate the propagation of acoustic waves through regimes of mean mass flows generated by global hydrodynamic and magnetohydrodynamic models: EULAG, the Pencil Code, and the Rayleigh code. These models are used to create synthetic dopplergram data products, used as inputs for local time-distance helioseismology techniques. Helioseismic travel-time signals from solutions obtained through global numerical simulations are compared directly with inferences from solar observations, in order to set additional constraints on global model parameters in a direct way. We show that even though these models are able to replicate solar-like differential rotation, the resulting rotationally-constrained convection develops a multi-cell global meridional circulation profile that is measurably inconsistent with local time-distance inferences of solar observations. However, we find that the development of rotationally-unconstrained convection close to the model surface is able to maintain solar-like differential rotation, while having a significant impact on the helioseismic travel-time signal, replicating solar observations within one standard deviation of the error due to noise.