The Solar Physics Division of the American Astronomical Society has undertaken the organization of a series of summer schools to cover various aspects of solar physics. This summer school in 2005 is the first in the series and it focuses on helioseismology. The summer school is sponsored jointly by NSF and NASA. It is the first NASA-Living With a Star (LWS) sponsored summer school that is being supported by the Targeted Research and Technology (TRT) program.
Since the discovery of the 5-minute oscillations on the sun by Leighton et al. in 1962 and the subsequent recognition of the global coherent nature of these solar oscillations, the study of helioseismology has revolutionized our understanding of the solar interior structure and dynamics. It has provided tight constraints on the standard solar models and indicated that new physics is required to solve the solar neutrino problem. It revealed an unexpected picture of the solar internal rotation profile which resulted in a complete rethinking of the models of the solar dynamo that governs the cyclic large-scale magnetic fields of the sun. With the advent of the GONG network and the SOHO-MDI observations in space, the high quality helioseismology data have allowed more detailed studies of the solar interior. In addition to studying solar p-mode frequencies, new novel helioseismology techniques (e.g. ring-diagram analysis, Hankel decomposition analysis, time-distance correlations, helioseismic holography) have been developed and applied to probe more localized properties of the solar interior, such as conditions around and below sunspots/active regions, supergranular flows, and the meridional circulations, etc. These new helioseismic methods have shown great potential in detailed solar interior diagnostics and can have predictive capabilities in forecasting solar activity (e.g. by detecting large active regions emerging on the far side of the Sun using helioseismic holography). Helioseismology is thus particularly relevant to both the National Space Weather Program and the Living With a Star Program objectives of identifying the sub-surface origins of space weather. The new Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager on board the Solar Dynamic Observatory to be launched in 2008, the first major mission of LWS will provide the next generation helioseismic measurements that are expected to lead to many new discoveries and capabilities.
This summer school aims to provide an in-depth introduction of the theory, methods and modern observations of helioseismology to physics graduate students and post-graduate early career scientists.
