Towards inertial-mode helioseismology: Direct sensing of solar rotation at 75 deg latitude and 0.8 Rsun

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Main Authors: Dey, Prithwitosh, Gizon, Laurent, Bekki, Yuto
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Dey, Prithwitosh
Gizon, Laurent
Bekki, Yuto
author_facet Dey, Prithwitosh
Gizon, Laurent
Bekki, Yuto
contents Solar internal rotation at high latitudes is poorly constrained by acoustic-mode helioseismology. Global inertial modes observed on the Sun are highly sensitive to solar differential rotation and may provide new diagnostics of rotation in these regions. We aim to constrain solar rotation with the measured frequency of the $m=1$ high-latitude inertial mode, starting from the HMI/SDO reference rotation profile given by p-mode helioseismology for 2010-2024. Using a validated and accurate eigenvalue solver, we compute the perturbation to the mode frequency resulting from localised changes in the differential rotation rate throughout the solar interior. We find that the linear sensitivity kernel of the $m=1$ high-latitude mode peaks at latitude 75 deg and radius $0.8 R_\odot$, with full widths of 7 deg and $0.13 R_\odot$. From the observed mode frequency in the Carrington frame, $-87.9 \pm 1.9$ nHz (retrograde, averaged over 2010-2024), we infer that the solar rotation rate near this location is $365.3\pm 2.0$ nHz, which exceeds the reference p-mode estimate by $8.1$ nHz. Additionally, we propose a latitudinally smooth, radially independent modification to the rotation rate at high latitudes beyond the linear (small-perturbation) regime. This work demonstrates that individual inertial modes can provide direct constraints on rotation in the bulk of the solar convection zone, well below the surface, representing the first example of spatially resolved inertial-mode helioseismology.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_19534
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Towards inertial-mode helioseismology: Direct sensing of solar rotation at 75 deg latitude and 0.8 Rsun
Dey, Prithwitosh
Gizon, Laurent
Bekki, Yuto
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Solar internal rotation at high latitudes is poorly constrained by acoustic-mode helioseismology. Global inertial modes observed on the Sun are highly sensitive to solar differential rotation and may provide new diagnostics of rotation in these regions. We aim to constrain solar rotation with the measured frequency of the $m=1$ high-latitude inertial mode, starting from the HMI/SDO reference rotation profile given by p-mode helioseismology for 2010-2024. Using a validated and accurate eigenvalue solver, we compute the perturbation to the mode frequency resulting from localised changes in the differential rotation rate throughout the solar interior. We find that the linear sensitivity kernel of the $m=1$ high-latitude mode peaks at latitude 75 deg and radius $0.8 R_\odot$, with full widths of 7 deg and $0.13 R_\odot$. From the observed mode frequency in the Carrington frame, $-87.9 \pm 1.9$ nHz (retrograde, averaged over 2010-2024), we infer that the solar rotation rate near this location is $365.3\pm 2.0$ nHz, which exceeds the reference p-mode estimate by $8.1$ nHz. Additionally, we propose a latitudinally smooth, radially independent modification to the rotation rate at high latitudes beyond the linear (small-perturbation) regime. This work demonstrates that individual inertial modes can provide direct constraints on rotation in the bulk of the solar convection zone, well below the surface, representing the first example of spatially resolved inertial-mode helioseismology.
title Towards inertial-mode helioseismology: Direct sensing of solar rotation at 75 deg latitude and 0.8 Rsun
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.19534