Looking Beneath the Surface of the Sun Using Helioseismic Tomography

Jason Jackiewicz

The Sun oscillates with millions of modes of vibration that contain information about the solar interior. Helioseismology is a set of tools used for measuring and interpreting these oscillations, analogous in many ways to terrestrial seismology. On the global scale, it has been very successful in determining large-scale axisymmetric behavior such as the solar differential rotation and the sound-speed profile down to the core. Local helioseismology, a new and more sophisticated set of techniques, aims to make 3D volume images at high spatial and temporal resolutions to study local phenomena in the Sun that we cannot directly observe, such as the sub-surface structure of convection and sunspots.

I will address some of the outstanding problems of solar physics that we hope to answer in the near future with local helioseismology, and summarize some of the progress that has already been made. I will also try to point out the relevance of this research field for other stars in general, and comment on the future prospects for asteroseismology.