The Stability of a Solar Model to Non-Radial Oscillations

Abstract

The stability of a solar model to low-order gravity modes has been investigated in quasiadiabatic approximation, neglecting any direct effects of convection on the oscillations. The zero age main sequence model was found to be stable, but after about 2 × 10⁸ yr the g₁ (l = 1) mode became unstable. The dominant destabilization comes from the dependence of the pp chain reaction rate on the abundances of ³He and H when nuclear equilibrium is disturbed, and is felt once a sufficient ³He inhomogeneity is established in the energy generating core.