The Sensitivity of Solar Eigenfrequencies to the Treatment of the Equation of State

The principal uncertainties in the equation of state involve the treatment of pressure ionization, the Debye-Huckel coulomb corrections, and the treatment of many-particle interaction effects. It is found that, for the lowest degree modes (l between 0 and 3), the terms and procedures used in the equation of state which deal with these uncertainties introduce changes in the frequencies which are less than 4 micro Hz. Recently, Shibahashi, Noels and Gabriel (1983) published solar eigenfrequencies using a theory with an equation of state improved with respect to the theory used earlier by Shibahashi and Osaki (1981). Their comparison between the two sets of results suggested that uncertainties in the frequencies as large as 10 micro Hz could be caused by the equation of state. It is felt that since the entire effect of the uncertain terms is only 4 micro Hz and since the uncertainties are only a fraction of each term, the 10 micro Hz changes found by Shibahashi et al must be a consequence of differences between the earlier and later calculations in areas other than the equation of state.