Can Enhanced Diffusion Improve Helioseismic Agreement for Solar Models with Revised Abundances?

Abstract

Recent solar photospheric abundance analyses (by Asplund et al. and Lodders) revise the C, N, O, Ne, and Ar abundances downward by 0.15-0.2 dex compared to previous determinations by Grevesse & Sauval. The abundances of Fe and other elements are reduced by smaller amounts, 0.05-0.1 dex. With these revisions, the photospheric Z/X decreases to 0.0165 (or 0.0177, according to Lodders), and Z decreases to ~0.0122 (or 0.0133, according to Lodders). A number of papers (by, e.g., Basu & Antia, Montalban et al., Bahcall & Pinsonneault, Turck-Chieze et al., and Antia & Basu) report that solar models evolved with standard opacities and diffusion treatment using these new abundances give poor agreement with helioseismic inferences for sound-speed and density profile, convection-zone helium abundance, and convection-zone depth. These authors also considered a limited set of models with increased opacities, enhanced diffusion, or abundance variations to improve agreement, finding no entirely satisfactory solution. Here we explore evolved solar models with varying diffusion treatments, including enhanced diffusion with separate multipliers for helium and other elements, to reduce the photospheric abundances, while keeping the interior abundances about the same as earlier standard models. While enhanced diffusion improves agreement with some helioseismic constraints compared to a solar model evolved with the new abundances using nominal input physics, the required increases in thermal diffusion rates are unphysically large, and none of the variations tried completely restores the good agreement attained using the earlier abundances. A combination of modest opacity increases, diffusion enhancements, and abundance increases near the level of the uncertainties, while somewhat contrived, remains the most physically plausible means to restore agreement with helioseismology. The case for enhanced diffusion would be improved if the inferred convection-zone helium abundance could be reduced; we recommend reconsidering this derivation in light of new equations of state with modified abundances and other improvements. We also recommend considering, as a last resort, diluting the convection zone, which contains only 2.5% of the Sun's mass, by accretion of material depleted in the more volatile elements C, N, O, Ne, and Ar after the Sun arrived on the main sequence.