Solar Gravity Modes from Acrim/Smm Irradiance Data

Abstract

Solar irradiance data from the AC RIM solar constant experiment on board the Solar Maximum Mission satellite (SMM) have been used to search for solar gravity modes. The power spectra of the time series of 270 days in 1980 and of 240 days in 1984 are analysed using a statistical method for the determination of the basic g-mode period separation T_o and the rotational frequency v _R. In the view of the proposal of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMP) in the solar core and their impact on T₀ the search has been extended down to 25 minutes. The results of the analysis of both time series in the frequency range from 10 to 40 μHz are best fitted by a T₀ of 29.85 minutes. This is close to the expected value for the WIMP model. The angular velocity in the center of the Sun inferred from the rotational splitting of the g-modes amounts to 6.6•10^-6 per sec, which is 2.3 times the photospheric rate.