Astronomy Colloquium - Marc Pinsonneault

Cool stars oscillate, and modern surveys are discovery engines for stellar variability. In this talk I will focus on solar-like oscillators and two modes of interpreting them: boutique modeling and global seismic properties. I begin with some background. Starting with the Sun, and moving to evolved stars, boutique seismology has revealed the internal structure, rotation, and magnetic fields of stars. Global properties have allowed us to infer mass, radius, and age for large samples of stars. We have now moved from future promise to quantitative results, which I then summarize. I argue that population asteroseismology is precise and accurate for the lower giant branch and clump, but caution is required for metal-poor and luminous stars. We see real tension between current theoretical models and boutique data, which is particularly severe for mass loss. I will close by discussing Roman, PLATO, ASSAS-SN and the exciting future prospects for asteroseismology.