Finite-Element Asteroseismology I: Two-Dimensional Adiabatic Oscillations of Rapidly Rotating N=3 Polytropes
Abstract
We develop a finite-element formulation for linear adiabatic oscillations of axisymmetric uniformly rotating, centrifugally distorted, self-gravitating N=3 polytropes. Equilibrium models are constructed using self-consistent-field iteration and then remeshed on a surface-fitted oblate meridional domain. The quadratic eigenvalue problem describing oscillations for each azimuthal wavenumber m is solved using a conforming two-domain mesh. The density-weighted displacement, u=ρ1/2ξ, is defined in the stellar interior, whereas the gravitational-potential perturbation δΦ is solved both inside the star and in an exterior vacuum. The coupled displacement--potential problem is assembled and solved within FEniCSx as a polynomial eigenvalue problem. Without rotation, the axisymmetric modes agree closely with an independent one-dimensional calculation. For finite rotation rates, several clean axisymmetric p-mode branches of the spheroidal star successfully reproduce the frequencies tabulated by Reese (2006). The relative frequency differences induced by rotation are smaller than 3×10−4 for the low-order mode branches up to ∼ 60\% of the critical rotation rate. These tests validate both the centrifugally distorted equilibrium and the finite-element implementation. We develop a method to track eigenfunctions continuously as a function of rotation and decompose their angular structure to quantify rotational mode mixing and progressive coupling between different spherical harmonic components. This reveals continuous deformation of individual mode branches from nearly single-ℓ structures to strongly mixed states at rapid rotation. This work is intended as a step toward finite-element multidimensional asteroseismology frameworks for modelling realistic rotationally and tidally distorted stellar configurations.
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BibTeX
@misc{guo2026finiteelement,
title = {{Finite-Element Asteroseismology I: Two-Dimensional Adiabatic Oscillations of Rapidly Rotating N=3 Polytropes}},
author = {Zhao Guo and Adrian J. Barker},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.21105},
eprint = {2610.21105},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.21105},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Finite-Element Asteroseismology I: Two-Dimensional Adiabatic Oscillations of Rapidly Rotating N=3 Polytropes
AU - Zhao Guo
AU - Adrian J. Barker
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/15
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.21105
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.21105
AB - We develop a finite-element formulation for linear adiabatic oscillations of axisymmetric uniformly rotating, centrifugally distorted, self-gravitating N=3 polytropes. Equilibrium models are constructed using self-consistent-field iteration and then remeshed on a surface-fitted oblate meridional domain. The quadratic eigenvalue problem describing oscillations for each azimuthal wavenumber m is solved using a conforming two-domain mesh. The density-weighted displacement, u=ρ^1/2ξ, is defined in the stellar interior, whereas the gravitational-potential perturbation δΦ is solved both inside the star and in an exterior vacuum. The coupled displacement--potential problem is assembled and solved within FEniCSx as a polynomial eigenvalue problem. Without rotation, the axisymmetric modes agree closely with an independent one-dimensional calculation. For finite rotation rates, several clean axisymmetric p-mode branches of the spheroidal star successfully reproduce the frequencies tabulated by Reese (2006). The relative frequency differences induced by rotation are smaller than 3×10^−4 for the low-order mode branches up to ∼ 60\% of the critical rotation rate. These tests validate both the centrifugally distorted equilibrium and the finite-element implementation. We develop a method to track eigenfunctions continuously as a function of rotation and decompose their angular structure to quantify rotational mode mixing and progressive coupling between different spherical harmonic components. This reveals continuous deformation of individual mode branches from nearly single-ℓ structures to strongly mixed states at rapid rotation. This work is intended as a step toward finite-element multidimensional asteroseismology frameworks for modelling realistic rotationally and tidally distorted stellar configurations.
ER -