Giuseppe Severino

The Energy Flux of Internal Gravity Waves in the Lower Solar Atmosphere

Stably stratified fluids, such as stellar and planetary atmospheres, can support and propagate gravity waves. On Earth these waves, which can transport energy and momentum over large distances and can trigger convection, contribute to the formation of our weather and global climate. Gravity waves also play a pivotal role in planetary sciences and modern stellar physics. They have also been proposed as an agent for the heating of stellar atmospheres and coronae, the exact mechanism behind which is one of the outstanding puzzles in solar and stellar physics. Using a combination of high-quality observations and 3D numerical simulations we have the first unambiguous detection of propagating gravity waves in the Suns (and hence a stellar) atmosphere. Moreover, we are able to determine the height dependence of their energy flux and find that at the base of the Suns chromosphere it is around 5 kW m−2. This amount of energy is comparable to the radiative losses of the entire chromosphere and points to internal gravity waves as a key mediator of energy into the solar atmosphere.

High altitude test of RPCs for the Argo YBJ experiment

Abstract A 50 m 2 RPC carpet was operated at the YanBaJin Cosmic Ray Laboratory (Tibet) located 4300 m a.s.l. The performance of RPCs in detecting Extensive Air Showers was studied. Efficiency and time-resolution measurements at the pressure and temperature conditions typical of high mountain laboratories, are reported.A 50 m**2 RPC carpet was operated at the YangBaJing Cosmic Ray Laboratory (Tibet) located 4300 m a.s.l. The performance of RPCs in detecting Extensive Air Showers was studied. Efficiency and time resolution measurements at the pressure and temperature conditions typical of high mountain laboratories, are reported.

Phase Differences and Gains between Intensity and Velocity in Low-Degree Acoustic Modes Measured by SOHO

Helioseismic instruments aboard SOHO are making possible a more accurate way of investigating the internal structure of the Sun. Making use of the different techniques and characteristics of these instruments, it is possible to measure solar oscillations as variations of the photospheric velocity (GOLF, MDI) or as irradiance and radiance fluctuations (VIRGO, MDI). Among the other advantages of observing solar oscillations simultaneously with different instruments and techniques, the study of velocity and irradiance measurements provides information on nonadiabatic effects in the radiatively cooled solar atmosphere. The thermodynamical properties of the atmosphere determine a phase shift between intensity and velocity (downward positive) oscillations of -90° in the case of an adiabatic atmosphere. Here we compute the phase differences and gains between intensity and velocity acoustic modes measured by SOHO to quantify the nonadiabatic degree of the solar atmosphere. After correcting the observed phase differences of the solar background influence, we find not exactly an adiabactic behavior, but close to it. Finally, we compare our results with three different theoretical models of the solar atmosphere, finding the best agreement with a model that includes turbulent pressure associated with convection and fluctuations of the superadiabatic temperature gradient.

The effect of stellar activity on the Li I 6708, Na I 5896 and K I 7699 Ålines - A comparison with the Pleiades, field stars and the Sun

An analytical model has been developed to empirically study the eects of stellar spots and faculae on the observed equivalent widths of Li i 6708, Na i 5896 and K i 7699 A lines (and abundances in the case of lithium) in late-type stars, taking into account the changes in the observed magnitudes and colors. Solar spectra corresponding to dierent active regions are used as input data and a range of lling factors are applied to simulate the surfaces of stars with dierent levels of activity. Detailed comparisons between predicted and observed photometric colors and equivalent widths are made for late-type stars of the Pleiades and the eld. The observed dispersions in K i and Li i equivalent widths for Pleiades stars can be partially accounted by the simultaneous eects of activity on colors and the line formation, indicating that the lithium-rotation connection suggested for0:7 0:9 M Pleiades stars could be due in part to the stellar activity. However, under realistic values for the lling factors, only a small portion of the observed spread could be explained by these eects.

OBSERVATIONAL CONSTRAINTS ON MODELS OF THE SOLAR BACKGROUND SPECTRUM

We discuss the properties of the solar background signal as observed in high-quality, l-ν power and phase difference spectra of the continuum (C), velocity (V), and line intensity (I) fluctuations of the Ni I 6768 A line. These spectra were generated from high-resolution images acquired by the Michelson Doppler Imager on board SOHO. We confirm that the background signal in the velocity power spectra can be reproduced by a composite model with two quasi-stationary components, describing large-scale and small-scale convective motions, and a periodic component. The line and continuum intensity power spectra require additional quasi-stationary and periodic components. The extra quasi-stationary component dominates the intensity and continuum background signals over the spectral region where the I-V phase difference spectra show essentially constant negative phase difference: i.e., below and in between the p-mode ridges (called the plateau-interridge regime by Deubner et al.). Since the I-V phase between the p-mode ridges is not random, the solar background beneath the p-modes must be considered as coherent. We thus speculate that the negative phase regime may be the manifestation of a correlated background. Such a background has been proposed to explain the opposite sense of the asymmetries of the p-mode line profiles in velocity and brightness oscillations.

How Well Can We Infer the Properties of the Solar Acoustic Sources

Measurements of the p-mode line asymmetry in the solar oscillation velocity power spectrum have been used on several occasions to infer the properties of the acoustic sources. These inferences are based on the assumption that, unlike the observed intensity signal, the velocity signal does not contain a nonresonant (background) component that is correlated with the p-mode signal. Line asymmetry measurements have also been used to draw inferences on the nature of the correlated background signal that is present in intensity observations. By simultaneously modeling the observed velocity and intensity power spectra and the intensity-velocity cross spectrum, we enforce strict observational constraints on the properties of the fitting model. We find that in order to accurately describe the observed data, we have to include a correlated background component in both our models for the V and I signals at low frequencies. Our results also show that we cannot uniquely determine the acoustic source depth for low-frequency waves or the detailed properties of the correlated background signals. It appears that further physical and/or observational constraints are needed before we can obtain this information.

The use of RPC in the ARGO-YBJ project

We present the ARGO-YBJ experiment, a full coverage detector placed at high altitude (∼4300 m a.s.l.) that exploits the RPC technique. Results of a test experiment performed at Yanbajing site, with a full coverage RPC carpet of 50 m2 are also presented.

The source of the solar oscillations: Convective or magnetic?

The origin of solar oscillations has not yet been clearly determined. The downflows due to convective rapid cooling at the surface have been invoked as a possible source. In this paper we investigate the properties of the source as inferred from the local analysis of the intensity-velocity phase dierences. The same spatial and temporal characteristics of other observed events and their correlation with the H bright points suggests downward plasma jets related to explosive chromospheric evaporation to be another possible candidate.

Collisional broadening and shift of the alkali resonance lines

We use the 6-8-12 interatomic potential, with a suitable scaling for the relevant atomic radii, to reproduce the measured broadening and shift of the alkali resonance lines perturbed by noble gases, at temperatures of ∼ 500 K.Then, using the fit to the data with helium and neon as perturbers, we compute new values for the broadening and shift of the alkali resonance lines due to atomic hydrogen, at the temperature of 5000 K, which are of interest in the analysis of solar and stellar spectra, and discuss the reliability of these results.

The effects of acoustic-gravity waves on the K i 7699 line

We examine the effects of acoustic-gravity waves with long and short periods on the solar profile of the K i7699 line using a dynamic model of line formation.First we studied the kinetic equilibrium of the K i atoms in a static atmosphere confirming, with up-to-date atomic data and atmospheric model, that a good fit of the resonance line 7699 is possible only when non-LTE effects are accounted for.Then the static non-LTE line source function and lower-level population are used as input data for calculating the line formation in the presence of waves.The time behaviour of the synthetic profiles corresponding to 300 s and 30 s waves is extensively discussed. The characteristic redshift induced by the 30 s wave is explained within the framework of the S-S line formation model. Long-period waves yield an anticorrelation between the asymmetry at different residual intensities and the line core shift, as observed. The short-period waves with velocity amplitude of about 100 m s−1 (at the base of the photosphere) produce a mean bisector whose lower part has a slope in agreement with the observed one. The efficiency of waves to produce macro and microturbulence is also discussed.