Element Settling in the Solar Interior

Element settling inside the Sun now becomes detectable from the comparison of the observed oscillation modes with the results of the theoretical models. This settling is due, not only to gravitation, but also to thermal diffusion and radiative acceleration (although this last effect is small compared to the two others). It leads to abundance variations of helium and heavy elements of $\cong 10$ below the convective zone. Although not observable from spectroscopy, such variations lead to non-negligible modifications of the solar internal structure and evolution. Helioseismology is a powerful tool to detect such effects, and its positive results represent a great success for the theory of stellar evolution. Meanwhile, evidences are obtained that the element settling is slightly smoothed down, probably due to mild macroscopic motions below the convective zone. Additional observations of the abundances of both Solar $^7$Li and $^3$He lead to specific constraints on these particular motions.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, paper presented at the workshop on Solar Composition and its Evolution - From Core to Corona, Berne, 26-30 January 9

Seismic tests of accretion in central stars of planetary systems

Central stars of extra-solar planetary systems are metal-rich. Planet accretion or initial surmetallicity can explain this observationnal fact. These scenarios can be tested with asteroseismology. We calibrate two stellar models, one with accretion and one with high initial metallicity, in order to obtain the same external parameters for both of them. We then compare their internal structures and their oscillation frequencies.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, ASP Conferences Series, D.W. Kurtz & Karen Pollarrd, Ed