Stellar Seismology

我的研究主要是通过分析在恒星内部反弹的声波的谐波结构来了解恒星是如何工作的。声波不是被听到的，而是被看到的。当声波穿过星星内部时，它会使星星的物质上下振荡，进入星星的较暖和较冷的区域。在星星的表面上可以看到这种物质的温度变化，这是星星亮度的微小变化。从亮度波动中，我们可以推断出声波的频率和振幅，这反过来又可以用来构建星星内部发生的事情的图片。我们的方法在许多方面与地震学家利用地震产生的振动来绘制地球内部组成的技术相似。

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.