Radiative zone

A stellar interior region where energy moves outward mainly through photons diffusing through matter. It lies between the core and the convection zone in stars such as the Sun.

Radiative diffusion: The transport of energy by photons repeatedly absorbed and re-emitted within an optically thick medium. It describes how radiation carries energy outward despite photons taking a long, indirect path.
Stellar structure: The study and physical description of a star's internal layers and global properties. The radiative zone is one layer in the larger structure of a star.
Sun: The star at the center of the Solar System, a middle-aged G-type main-sequence star. Its radiative zone extends from the core to roughly 0.71 solar radii.
Solar dynamo: The process by which motion and magnetic fields inside the Sun sustain its changing magnetic field. The shear at the radiative–convective boundary contributes to models of the solar magnetic cycle.
Radiative transfer: The physical description of how radiation is emitted, absorbed, and scattered through matter. Radiative diffusion is the optically thick limit of this broader process.
Hydrostatic equilibrium: A balance in which pressure gradients counteract gravitational forces within a fluid body. This balance sets the pressure and density profile through the zone.
Solar tachocline: A thin shear layer near the base of the Sun's convection zone. It marks the transition between the radiative zone's near-solid rotation and the convection zone's differential rotation.
Helioseismology: The study of the Sun's internal structure and dynamics using its oscillations. Solar oscillation measurements constrain the radiative zone's sound speed and rotation.
Opacity: A measure of how strongly matter absorbs or scatters radiation passing through it. Opacity controls how readily photons transport energy through stellar material.
Stellar core: The central region of a star, where pressure, density, and temperature are generally highest. The radiative zone carries energy outward from the core in many stars.

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