A library of high resolution synthetic stellar spectra from 300nm to 1.8 micron with solar and alpha-enhanced composition

Abstract

Libraries of stellar spectra are fundamental tools for the study of stellar populations and both empirical and synthetic libraries have been used for this purpose. In this paper, a new library of high resolution synthetic spectra is presented, ranging from the near-ultraviolet (300nm) to the near-infrared (1.8${\rm μ}$m). The library spans all the stellar types that are relevant to the integrated light of old and intermediate-age stellar populations in the involved spectral region (spectral types F through M and all luminosity classes). The grid was computed for metallicities ranging from [Fe/H] = --2.5 to +0.5, including both solar and $α$-enhanced ([$α$/Fe] = 0.4) chemical compositions. The synthetic spectra are a good match to observations of stars throughout the stellar parameter space encompassed by the library and over the whole spectral region covered by the computations.