Are recent solar heavy element abundances consistent with helioseismology? Sarbani Basu H.M. Antia
The Abundances ElementGS98AGS05Caffau et al. (2010) Grevesse et al. (2010) C8.52± ± ± ±0.05 N7.92± ± ± ±0.05 O8.83± ± ± ±0.05 Fe7.50± ± ± ±0.04 Z/X
Envelope models, CZ base and Y forced to have helioseismically determined values
Serenelli et al. (2009) OP opacities give “better” results than OPAL
The outer part of the CZ: The ionization zones
OPAL MHD EFF (GS) CEFF (GS/AGS) CEFF (other) GS98 AGS Caffau et al.
More constraints: The initial helium abundance The current CZ helium abundance Y ini =0.273 ± (random) ± (systematic) (Serenelli & Basu 2010) Y =0.2485± (Basu & Antia 2008) ModelInitial YCurrent Y GS AGS Caffau et al. (Lodders) Caffau et al. (GS98) Grevesse et al Caffau et al. with GS opacities
CONCLUSIONS Although the Caffau et al. (2010) solar metallicities are not as high as those of GS98, the match to helioseismology is of a similar quality. The Caffau et al. (2010) also demonstrate the importance of using opacities calculated with the correct relative abundances of elements. We should also calculate the equation of state for the relevant mixture. Unfortunately, that is not easy to do!