Stellar Seismology

我的研究主要是为了通过分析在恒星内部反弹的声波的谐和结构来了解恒星是如何工作的。声波是看不见而是听不见的。当声波在恒星内部传播时，它会导致恒星的物质上下摇摆，进入恒星较热和较冷的区域。这种物质的温度变化可以通过恒星亮度的微小变化在恒星表面看到。从亮度波动中，我们可以推断出声波的频率和幅度，这反过来又可以用来构建恒星内部正在发生的事情的图像。我们的方法在许多方面类似于地震学家使用的技术，即利用地震产生的振动绘制出地球内部的组成。

My research is primarily directed toward understanding how stars work by analyzing the harmonic structure of sound waves that bounce around their interiors. The sound waves are not heard but seen. As a sound wave travels through the interior of a star it causes the material of the star to oscillate up and down into warmer and cooler regions of the star. The changes in temperature of the material can be seen on the surface of a star as minute variations in the star's brightness. From the brightness fluctuations, we can deduce the frequency and amplitude of the sound waves, which, in turn, can be used to build a picture of what is going on inside the star. Our methods are in many ways similar to the techniques used by seismologists to map out the composition of the interior of the earth using the vibrations produced by earthquakes.