An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

1. Geology: The process whereby a geologic section (subsurface model of one-, two-, or three dimensions) is transformed into a synthetic seismogram (synthetic seismic record).
   

   2. In → asteroseismology, a model that takes the physical properties of a star as input parameters and predicts the star’s oscillations. Then, by finding parameters that yield oscillation frequencies (ω_nlm) close to those observed, one can infer the properties of the observed star. The quantum numbers n, l, and m must be identified before any meaningful comparison between seismic data and model predictions can be made. That mode identification requires a physical interpretation of the measured frequencies.

See also: → forward; → seismic; → modeling.