What do global p-modes tell us about banana cells?

Abstract

We have calculated the effects of giant convection cells also know as sectoral rolls or banana cells, on p-mode splitting coefficients. We use the technique of quasi-degenerate perturbation theory formulated by Lavely & Ritzwoller in order to estimate the frequency shifts. A possible way of detecting giant cells is to look for even splitting coefficients of 'nearly degenerate' modes in the observational data since these modes have the largest shifts. We find that banana cells having an azimuthal wave number of 16 and maximum vertical velocity of 180 m/s cannot be ruled out from GONG data for even splitting coefficients.