On the surface physics affecting solar oscillation frequencies

Adiabatic oscillation frequencies of stellar models, computed with the standard mixing-length formulation for convection, increasingly deviate with radial order from observations in solar-like stars. Standard solar models overestimate adiabatic frequencies by as much as similar to 20 mu Hz. In this Letter, we address the physical processes of turbulent convection that are predominantly responsible for the frequency differences between standard models and observations, also called 'surface effects'. We compare measured solar frequencies from the Michelson Doppler Imager instrument on the SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory spacecraft with frequency calculations that include 3D hydrodynamical simulation results in the equilibrium model, non-adiabatic effects, and a consistent treatment of the turbulent pressure in both the equilibrium and stability computations. With the consistent inclusion of the above physics in our model computation, we are able to reproduce the observed solar frequencies to less than or similar to 3 mu Hz without the need of any additional ad hoc functional corrections.