Quick matching technique to study the relationship between solar radius and luminosity variations

Abstract

A simple matching technique is developed which allows us to compute the response of the solar envelope to perturbations which occur within the solar convective region, and in timescales of importance to climate. This technique is applied to perturbation of the convective efficiency (α-mechanism), and of the non-gas component of the pressure in different regions of the convection zone (β-mechanism). The results indicate that while either perturbation affects the solar luminosity, the α-mechanism has almost no effect on the solar outer radius, regardless of the affected region, whereas the β-mechanism produces radius changes which may be large if the location of perturbation is deep enough.