Period spacings in red giants

Abstract

Context. Asteroseismology allows us to probe the physical conditions inside the core of red giant stars. This process relies on the properties of the global oscillations with a mixed character that are highly sensitive to the physical properties of the core. However, overlapping rotational splittings and mixed-mode spacings result in complex structures in the mixed-mode pattern, which severely complicates its identification and the measurement of the asymptotic period spacing.