The excitation and damping of solar oscillations

The authors present data for stochastic excitation by turbulent convection which may be responsible for the observed amplitudes of solar p-mode oscillations. Data from Big Bear Solar Observatory is used to compare theory and observation in detail. In particular, the data show that the energy per oscillation mode is nearly constant at low mode frequencies, and is approximately independent of degree at low degrees. The total energy in all the oscillation modes is estimated at approx. 1034 erg. (author)