A Quantitative Analysis of the Solar Composition Problem

We perform a quantitative analysis of the solar composition problem by using a statistical approach that allows us to combine the information provided by helioseismic and solar neutrino data in an effective way. We show that the opacity profile of the Sun is well constrained by the solar observational properties. In the context of a two parameter analysis in which elements are grouped as volatiles (i.e. C, N, O and Ne) and refractories (i.e. Mg, Si, S, Fe), the optimal surface composition is found by increasing the abundance of volatiles by (45 ± 4) % and that of refractories by (19 ± 3) % with respect to the values provided by Asplund et al., 2009. As an additional result of our analysis, we show that the best fit to the observational data is obtained with values of input parameters of the standard solar models (radiative opacities, gravitational settling rate, the astrophysical factors S 34 and S 17) that differ at the ∼ 1σ level from those presently adopted.