The Nonhomologous Nature of Solar Diameter Variations

Abstract

We show in this Letter that the changes of the solar diameter in response to variations of large-scale magnetic fields and turbulence are not homologous. For the best current model, the variation at the photospheric level is over 1000 times larger than the variation at a depth of 5 Mm, which is about the level at which f-mode solar oscillations determine diameter variations. This model is supported by observations that indicate larger diameter changes for high-degree f-modes than for low-degree f-modes, since the energy of the former is concentrated at shallower layers than the latter.