MPS Seminar: Inertial Oscillations in the Solar Interior (Catherine Blume)

Abstract: Recent observations of Rossby waves and other more exotic forms of 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 equatorial Rossby waves, retrograde mixed inertial modes, prograde thermal Rossby waves, the recently observed high-frequency retrograde (HFR) vorticity modes, and what may be latitudinal overtones of these HFR modes. With this model, we demonstrate that sectoral and tesseral Rossby waves are ubiquitous within the radiative interior as well as within the convection zone. We suggest that there are two different Rossby-wave families in this simulation that live in different wave cavities: one in the radiative interior and one in the convection zone. Finally, we suggest that many of the retrograde inertial waves that appear in the convection zone, including the HFR modes, are in fact all related, being latitudinal overtones that are mixed modes with the prograde thermal Rossby waves. Short Bio: Catherine Blume is a PhD candidate at the University of Colorado-Boulder, where she works with Brad Hindman. She is broadly interested in the many guises of inertial waves. When she can find a spare minute, she enjoys walking in the mountains, singing, and exploring the mathematics behind crochet.