HT Correspondent
TEZPUR, Jan 16: A research study from the Department of Physics at Tezpur University has provided new understanding of how gravity functions inside the Sun, offering fresh perspectives on solar stability and energy transport.
The study has been accepted for publication in Physical Review E, a journal of the American Physical Society, known globally for its rigorous peer-review standards.
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The research, titled “Stability and Wave Dynamics in Polytropic Eddington-inspired Born–Infeld (EiBI) Gravitating Solar Plasmas”, was carried out by Prof Pralay Kumar Karmakar and Souvik Das, a DST-INSPIRE Senior Research Fellow at the university.
It examines the behaviour of plasma waves inside the Sun under a modified theory of gravity known as Eddington-inspired Born–Infeld gravity.
Plasma waves in the Sun’s interior play a crucial role in transporting energy and maintaining stability and have traditionally been studied using Newtonian gravity.
The Tezpur University study explores how these dynamics change when gravity is described through the EiBI framework, particularly under the Sun’s extreme temperature and density conditions.
Using advanced mathematical models alongside four years of helioseismic data from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, the researchers found that even minor deviations from conventional gravity can significantly influence wave behaviour.
The study indicates that wave speeds and energy transport inside the Sun could increase by up to 55 per cent under the modified gravity model, resulting in more stable solar oscillations.
The findings also suggest that certain gravity-related oscillation modes, previously considered negligible, may carry substantial energy under the EiBI framework.
Notably, the model’s predictions closely align with actual solar observations, making this the first observational test of EiBI gravity within a stellar interior.
Souvik Das said the close agreement between theoretical predictions and observational data highlights the measurable impact of small corrections to gravity.
Prof Karmakar added that the research demonstrates how the Sun can serve as a natural laboratory for testing gravity theories beyond Einstein, with helioseismology opening new avenues in fundamental physics research.
