TAPIR Seminar

Astrophysical bodies of all sorts, from planets to super-giants, pulsate as hydrodynamic waves propagate through them. In some cases, these oscillations can be used to infer the properties of the bodies via seismology. I will summarize recent seismic analyses of the planet Saturn, using its rings to detect pulsations within the planet. I will also discuss the generation of gravitational waves during rapidly rotating
core-collapse supernovae, which may allow us to perform "supernova seismology". In stars, waves can alter stellar evolution by transporting angular momentum within stellar interiors. I will examine how waves affect the rotational evolution of low-mass stars, where asteroseismic data is providing the first direct measurements of internal stellar rotation rates. Time permitting, I will present preliminary results on waves in massive stars, and how they affect the rotation rates of pre-collapse stellar cores and their neutron star progeny.