Theoretical Investigations of the Equation of State for Stellar Interiors

日震学开辟了一条双向通道，使太阳内部成为一个实验室，可以在地球上无法实现的条件下研究热致密气体的温度和压力关系。有了来自全球振荡网络组（GONG）和航天器SOHO的丰富数据，现在是将这些太阳振荡频率实验的大量数据集应用于研究描述太阳内部的“状态方程”的绝佳机会。虽然非理想的影响是相对较小的修正（通常是压力的1-10%），但非凡的观测精度使得日震数据对它们敏感，对理论计算施加了严格的限制，使其达到所需的水平。要研究的物理效应包括压力电离的机制、致密等离子体中束缚态的影响和消失，以及等离子体中束缚系统（原子、离子、分子）中激发态的影响。间接地，太阳实验还涉及更广泛的等离子体，应用于低质量恒星、褐矮星或激光冲击实验。太阳物理学也将受益，改进的太阳模型也将随之产生。它们将作为解决未来太阳物理学挑战的工具，如太阳周期的位置、各种太阳变化，以及太阳-地球联系中的其他关键问题。分析的一个主要推力是分析工具的应用，面向状态方程诊断，在之前的NSF奖励的支持下开发。这项研究的更广泛的影响是由(i)研究活动对私家侦探的好处（ii）私家侦探的培训（iii）自由传播的状态方程和不透明度表，私家侦探和合作私家侦探。将继续，（iv）潜在的社会效益，因为拟议的工作与基础聚变研究的联系，最后，但并非最不重要的是，(v)碰巧P.I.该校的三名在读研究生和一名未来的研究生都是女性，这有助于扩大女性在科学领域的参与。

AST 0307578PI DappenHelioseismology has opened a two-way street, making the Sun's interior a laboratory to study temperature and pressure relationships of a hot dense gases under conditions that cannot be achieved on Earth. With the wealth of data from the Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) and the spacecraft SOHO, now is a perfect opportunity for applying the extensive datasets from these solar oscillation frequency experiments to the study of the 'equation of state' describing the solar interior. Although the non-ideal effects are relatively small corrections (typically 1-10% of the pressure), the extraordinary observational accuracy makes the helioseismic data sensitive to them, imposing stringent constraints on their theoretical computation to the required level. Among the physical effects to be examined are the mechanism of pressure ionization, the influence and disappearance of bound states in denser plasmas, and the influence of the excited states in bound systems in the plasma (atoms, ions, molecules). Indirectly the solar experiment also addresses a wider range of plasmas, with applications to lower-mass stars, brown dwarfs, or laser shock experiments. Solar physics will also benefit and improved solar models will result. They will serve as the tools to tackle the future challenges of solar physics, such as the seat of the solar cycle, solar variability of all kinds, as well as other key issues in the Sun-Earth connection. A major thrust of the analysis is the application of analytic tools, geared to equation-of-state diagnostics, developed with the support of the preceding NSF award.The broader impact of this research is given by (i) the benefit of the research activity for the P.I.'s teaching, at all levels, including General Education, (ii) the training of the P.I.'s current and future graduate students, (iii) the free dissemination of equation-of-state and opacity tables that the P.I. and Co-P.I. will continue, (iv) a potential societal benefit, because of the link of the proposed work to fundamental fusion research, and last, but not least, (v) it happens that the P.I.'s three current and one prospective graduate students are all women, which helps to broaden the participation of women in science.