New Solar Metallicity Measurements

In the past years, a systematic downward revision of the metallicity of the Sun has led to the “solar modeling problem”, namely the disagreement between predictions of standard solar models and inferences from helioseismology. Recent solar wind measurements of the metallicity of the Sun, however, provide once more an indication of a high-metallicity Sun. Because of the effects of possible residual fractionation, the derived value of the metallicity Z ⊙ = 0.0196 ± 0.0014 actually represents a lower limit to the true metallicity of the Sun. However, when compared with helioseismological measurements, solar models computed using these new abundances fail to restore agreement, owing to the implausibly high abundance of refractory (Mg, Si, S, Fe) elements, which correlates with a higher core temperature and hence an overproduction of solar neutrinos. Moreover, the robustness of these measurements is challenged by possible first ionization potential fractionation processes. I will discuss these solar wind measurements, which leave the “solar modeling problem” unsolved. View Full-Tex