Solar-like oscillations of Procyon A: stellar models and time series simulations versus observations

The aim of this paper is to discuss the possible stellar origin of the obse rved excess power presented in Martic et al. (1999) by comparing these obse rvational data with theoretical predictions and numerical simulations. Stel lar models are calculated for Procyon A with appropriate physics for this s tar and with the revised astrometric mass (1.46 +/- 0.04) M. found by Girar d (1998). For these models, we compute the expected oscillation spectra for l=0,1,2 modes including m not equal 0 according to theoretical amplitude p redictions. Time-series are then simulated, in the same conditions as the o bservations, and compared by Fourier analysis with the observed ones. We sh ow that the characteristics of the signal are in good agreement with what s hould be expected for such observing runs and we emphasize the importance o f obtaining multi-site observations for this star. We confirm the presence of a periodic pattern in the Fourier spectrum, this pattern being interpret ed as the so-called large separation.