On the feasibility of employing solar-like oscillators as detectors for the stochastic background of gravitational waves

Abstract

We present a hydrodynamic model that describes excitation of linear stellar oscillations by a stochastic background of gravitational waves (SBGW) of astrophysical and cosmological origin. We find that this excitation mechanism is capable of generating solar g-mode amplitudes close to or comparable with values expected from excitation by turbulent convection, which is considered to be the main driving force for solar-like oscillations. A method is presented that places direct upper bounds on the SBGW in a frequency range, in which the SBGW is expected to contain rich astrophysical information. Employing estimates for solar g-mode amplitudes, the proposed method is demonstrated to have the potential to compete with sensitivities reached by gravitational wave experiments in other frequency ranges.