Adiabatic Survey of Subdwarf B Star Oscillations. III. Effects of Extreme Horizontal Branch Stellar Evolution on Pulsation Modes

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Abstract
We present the final results of a large, systematic survey of the adiabatic oscillation properties of models of subdwarf B (sdB) stars. This survey is aimed at providing the minimal theoretical background with which to understand the asteroseismological characteristics of the recently discovered class of pulsating sdB stars (the EC 14026 objects). In this paper, the last of a series of three, we consider the effects of stellar evolution on the pulsation eigenmodes of sdB star models. We specifically analyze the adiabatic properties of 149 equilibrium models culled from seven distinct extreme horizontal branch evolutionary sequences. Those have been chosen in order to span fully the region of parameter space where real sdB stars are found. We primarily focus on the evolution of the pulsation periods (P) and the rates of period change (dP/dt), which are both a priori observable quantities. Both the acoustic and gravity branches of stellar oscillations are considered. In light of the results derived in the first two papers of this series, we discuss how the values of P and dP/dt relate to the various structural adjustments that sdB stars undergo during evolution. We find that the acoustic modes react primarily to the secular variations of the surface gravity. In contrast, we identify three main factors that regulate the period evolution of gravity modes: these are the variations brought about by evolution in both the surface gravity and the effective temperature, as well as the onset and growth of a chemical discontinuity between the C-O-enriched nucleus and the helium-rich mantle. We also find, as expected from our previous results, that the period evolution of the pulsation modes in sdB stars is further complicated by trapping effects (microtrapping in the case of p-modes) and by avoided crossings between modes. The latter occur preferentially in certain regions of parameter space. We provide our final results in the form of extensive tabular data in the appendices, which, we hope, will be useful in future asteroseismological analyses of EC 14026 stars.