Open PhD project: Using MHD simulations to improve asteroseismic inferences

Hydrodynamic simulations of near surface convection and waves in the Sun and stars

The energy transport near the surface of the Sun and other Sun-like stars is dominated by convection, leading to the granulation visible at the surface. The near surface convection also excites sound waves traveling throughout the stars, allowing us to study their interiors.

Unfortunately the interaction between these phenomena is poorly understood, which in addition to being an interesting physics problem, makes it difficult to accurately determine the interior properties from the observations.

In this project we will study the interactions using hydrodynamic simulations. One problem involves studying the so-called surface term, which results in a discrepancy between the expected mode frequencies and those observed. Another problem involves understanding the details of the observed intensity and Doppler velocity spectra.