High sensitivity of p-modes near the acoustic cutoff frequency to solar model parameters

The p-mode frequencies of low l have been calculated for solar models with initial helium mass fraction varying from Y = 0.2753-0.2875. The differences in frequency of the p-modes in the frequency range, 2500-4500 microHz, do not exceed 1-5 microHz among the models. But in the vicinity of the acoustic cutoff frequency, near 5000 microHz the p-mode frequency differences are enhanced by a factor of 4. The enhanced sensitivity of p-modes near the acoustic cutoff frequency was further tested by calculating and comparing p-mode frequencies of low l for two solar models one incorporating the Eddington T-tau relation and the other the Krishna Swamy T-tau relation. Again, it is found that p-modes with frequencies near the acoustic cutoff frequency show a significant increase in sensitivity to the different T-tau relations, compared to lower frequency p-modes. It is noted that frequencies above the acoustic cutoff frequency are complex, hence, cannot be modeled by the adiabatic pulsation code (assumes real eigenfrequencies) used in these calculations.