HELAS II International Conference

Volume 118 (2008) of Journal of Physics: Conference Series provides a written record of the talks and posters presented at the HELAS II International Conference `Helioseismology, Asteroseismology and MHD Connections'. The conference was held during the week 20–24 August 2007 in Gottingen, Germany, jointly hosted by the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research and the Faculty of Physics of the University of Gottingen. A total of 140 scientists from all over the world attended. The Scientific Organizing Committee consisted of Conny Aerts, Annie Baglin, Jorgen Christensen-Dalsgaard, Thierry Corbard, Jadwiga Daszynska-Daszkiewicz, Stefan Dreizler, Yvonne Elsworth, Laurent Gizon (Chairman), Wolfgang Glatzel, Frank Hill, Donald Kurtz, Oskar von der Luhe, Maria Pia Di Mauro, Mario Monteiro, Pere Palle, Markus Roth, Philip Scherrer, Manfred Schussler, and Michael Thompson. HELAS stands for the European Helio- and Asteroseismology Network, a Coordination Action supported by the sixth Framework Programme of the European Union. It aims to bring together researchers in the fields of solar and stellar oscillations. This volume consists of 91 articles organized into sections that reflect the scientific programme of the conference: 012001–07 Wave diagnostics in physics, geophysics and astrophysics 012008–09 Perspectives on helio- and asteroseismology 012010–17 Asteroseismology: Observations 012018–25 Asteroseismology: Theory 012026–32 Global helioseismology and solar models 012033–38 Local helioseismology and magnetic activity 012039–44 Future observational projects in helio- and asteroseismology 012045–91 Poster papers. The overwhelming majority of papers discuss the seismology of the Sun and stars. Papers in the first section provide a broader perspective on wave phenomena and techniques for probing other physical systems, from living beings to the universe as a whole. We were extremely fortunate to have particularly distinguished experts to cover these topics. Also available in the online edition are (i) an interactive conference picture, (ii) the abstract book, and (iii) material on the special session `Waves, Waves and Waves'. Additional articles related to both the HELAS II and the SOHO 19/GONG 2007 conferences can be found in a topical issue of Solar Physics, volume 251, nos 1–2. Financial support was provided by the HELAS Network, the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (through Ulrich Christensen and Sami Solanki) and the University of Gottingen (through Stefan Dreizler). We thank the local organizers, and in particular Sabine Deutsch, for their outstanding efforts in making the conference a success. We are also grateful to Graham Douglas and Jacky Mucklow of IoP Publishing for their help in the production of this volume. Laurent Gizon and Markus Roth Editors Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany