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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.05780 |
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Table of Contents:
- We investigate the small, quasi-periodic modulations seen in the gravity-mode period spacings of pulsating stars. These ``wiggles'' are produced by buoyancy glitches -- sharp features in the buoyancy frequency ($N$) caused by composition transitions and the convective-radiative interface. Our method takes the Fourier transform of the period-spacing series, $FT(ΔP_k)$ as a function of radial order $k$. We show that $FT(ΔP_k)$ traces the radial derivative of the normalized glitch profile $δN/N$ with respect to the normalized buoyancy radius; peaks in $FT(ΔP_k)$ therefore pinpoint jump/drop locations in $N$ and measure their sharpness. We also note that the Fourier transform of relative period perturbations (deviations from asymptotic values), $FT(δP/P)$, directly recovers the absolute value of the glitch profile $|δN/N|$, enabling a straightforward inversion for the internal structure. The dominant $FT(ΔP_k)$ frequency correlates tightly with central hydrogen abundance ($X_c$) and thus with stellar age for slowly pulsating B-stars, with only weak mass dependence. Applying the technique to MESA stellar models and to observed slowly pulsating B-stars and $γ$ Dor pulsators, we find typical glitch amplitudes $δN/N \lesssim 0.01$ and derivative magnitudes $\lesssim 0.1$, concentrated at chemical gradients and the convective boundary. This approach enables fast, ensemble asteroseismology of g-mode pulsators, constrains internal mixing and ages, and can be extended to other classes of pulsators, with potential links to tidal interactions in binaries.