Effects of Convection on the Mean Solar Structure

Abstract

The overall framework for the study of solar convection and oscillations is the spherically symmetric component of solar structure. I discuss those properties of the solar interior which depend on convection and other possible hydrodynamical motion and the increasingly detailed information about the structure which is provided by helioseismic data. The most basic dependence of solar models on convection is the calibration to fix the solar radius. The dominant causes for differences in oscillation frequencies between the Sun and solar models seem to be located near the top of the convection zone. However, there is also evidence for possible weak mixing below the convection zone and perhaps in the solar core. The former, at least, might be induced by penetration of convective motion into the stable layers below.