[en] We present an inversion method of inferring the sound velocity distribution in the Sun from its oscillation data of p-modes. The equation governing the p-mode oscillations is reduced to a form similar to the Schroedinger equation in quantum mechanics. By using a quantization rule based on the KWBJ asymptotic method, we derive an integral equation of which solution provides the 'acoustic potential' of the wave equation. The acoustic potential consists of two parts: One of them is related with the squared sound velocity and is dependent on the degree of the mode l, while the other term is independent of l and dominates in the outer part of the Sun. By examining the l-dependence of the acoustic potential obtained as the solution of the integral equation, we separate these two components of the potential and eventually obtain the sound velocity distribution from a set of eigenfrequencies of p-modes. In order to evaluate prospects of this inversion method, we perform numerical simulations in which eigenfrequencies of a theoretical solar model are used to reproduce the sound velocity distribution of the model. The error of thus inferred sound velocity relative to the true values is estimated to be less than a few percent. (author)

[en] In order to study the relationship between characteristics of polar coronal active events and the magnetic environment in which such events take place, we analyze 526 X-ray jets and 1256 transient brightenings in the polar regions and in regions around the equatorial limbs. We calculate the occurrence rates of these polar coronal active events as a function of distance from the boundary of coronal holes, and find that most events in the polar quiet regions occur adjacent to and equatorward of the coronal hole boundaries, while events in the polar coronal holes occur uniformly within them. Based primarily on the background intensity, we define three categories of regions that produce activity: polar coronal holes, coronal hole boundary regions, and polar quiet regions. We then investigate the properties of the events produced in these regions. We find no significant differences in their characteristics, for example, length and lifetime, but there are differences in the occurrence rates. The mean occurrence rate of X-ray jets around the boundaries of coronal holes is higher than that in the polar quiet regions, equatorial quiet regions, and polar coronal holes. Furthermore, the mean occurrence rate of transient brightenings is also higher in these regions. We make comparison with the occurrence rates of emerging and canceling magnetic fields in the photosphere reported in previous studies, and find that they do not agree with the occurrence rates of transient brightenings found in this study

[en] We analyze a solar active region observed by the Hinode Ca II H line using the time-distance helioseismology technique, and infer wave-speed perturbation structures and flow fields beneath the active region with a high spatial resolution. The general subsurface wave-speed structure is similar to the previous results obtained from Solar and Heliospheric Observatory/Michelson Doppler Imager observations. The general subsurface flow structure is also similar, and the downward flows beneath the sunspot and the mass circulations around the sunspot are clearly resolved. Below the sunspot, some organized divergent flow cells are observed, and these structures may indicate the existence of mesoscale convective motions. Near the light bridge inside the sunspot, hotter plasma is found beneath, and flows divergent from this area are observed. The Hinode data also allow us to investigate potential uncertainties caused by the use of phase-speed filter for short travel distances. Comparing the measurements with and without the phase-speed filtering, we find out that inside the sunspot, mean acoustic travel times are in basic agreement, but the values are underestimated by a factor of 20%-40% inside the sunspot umbra for measurements with the filtering. The initial acoustic tomography results from Hinode show a great potential of using high-resolution observations for probing the internal structure and dynamics of sunspots.

[en] We report on a new phenomenon of 'alignment' of supergranulation cells in the polar regions of the Sun. Recent high-resolution data sets obtained by the Solar Optical Telescope on board the Hinode satellite enabled us to investigate supergranular structures in high-latitude regions of the Sun. We have carried out a local helioseismology time-distance analysis of the data and detected acoustic travel-time variations due to the supergranular flows. The supergranulation cells in both the north and south polar regions show systematic alignment patterns in the north-south direction. The south-pole data sets obtained in a month-long Hinode campaign indicate that the supergranulation alignment property may be quite common in the polar regions. We also discuss the latitudinal dependence of the supergranulation cell sizes; the data show that the east-west cell size decreases toward higher latitudes.

[en] In this Letter, we present a seismological detection of a rising motion of magnetic flux in the shallow convection zone of the Sun, and show estimates of the emerging speed and its decelerating nature. In order to evaluate the speed of subsurface flux that creates an active region, we apply six Fourier filters to the Doppler data of NOAA AR 10488, observed with the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory/Michelson Doppler Imager, to detect the reduction of acoustic power at six different depths from –15 to –2 Mm. All the filtered acoustic powers show reductions, up to 2 hr before the magnetic flux first appears at the visible surface. The start times of these reductions show a rising trend with a gradual deceleration. The obtained velocity is first several km s^–1 in a depth range of 15-10 Mm, then ∼1.5 km s^–1 at 10-5 Mm, and finally ∼0.5 km s^–1 at 5-2 Mm. If we assume that the power reduction is actually caused by the magnetic field, the velocity of the order of 1 km s^–1 is well in accordance with previous observations and numerical studies. Moreover, the gradual deceleration strongly supports the theoretical model that the emerging flux slows down in the uppermost convection zone before it expands into the atmosphere to build an active region.

[en] We report on a signature of chromospheric downflows in two emerging flux regions detected by time-distance helioseismology analysis. We use both chromospheric intensity oscillation data in the Ca II H line and photospheric Dopplergrams in the Fe I 557.6 nm line obtained by Hinode/SOT for our analyses. By cross-correlating the Ca II oscillation signals, we have detected a travel-time anomaly in the plage regions; outward travel times are shorter than inward travel times by 0.5-1 minute. However, such an anomaly is absent in the Fe I data. These results can be interpreted as evidence of downflows in the lower chromosphere. The downflow speed is estimated to be below 10 km s^-1. This result demonstrates a new possibility of studying chromospheric flows by time-distance analysis.