Solar p-mode oscillations as a tracer of radial differential rotation

Photoelectric observations of solar p-modes obtained with improved wavenumber and frequency resolution are presented. The observations are compared with model calculations of the p-modes, and the degree of spatial and temporal coherence of the observed wave pattern is investigated. It is found that the p-mode oscillations pervade the visible surface of the sun with a high degree of coherence in space and time, so that the whole complex pattern of standing waves with its nodes and antinodes can be regarded as a fixed pattern corotating with the solar surface layers. The p-modes are introduced as a tracer of solar rotational flow velocities. The equatorial differential rotation is estimated as a function of effective depth on the basis of the theoretical contribution functions for the p-modes recently derived by Ulrich et al. (1978). The results strongly indicate that the angular speed of rotation is not uniform even in the relatively shallow layer extending about 20,000 km below the photosphere.