Grids of Synthetic Stellar Spectra

Grids of stellar spectra are extensively used in astrophysics in a range of applications, from derivation of atmospheric parameters in observed stellar spectra, to archaeological studies in integrated light of galaxies. Theoretical stellar libraries have been increasingly used in recent years to overcome limitations of empirical libraries by, e.g., exploring atmospheric parameter spaces not well represented in the latter. Nevertheless, there are still caveats and they can only partially model observations with accuracy. Here we discuss the current need for synthetic libraries, in particular for applications in stellar population studies. Next we briefly present a non-extensive sample of libraries available in literature, and we then highlight how better atomic and molecular opacities are much needed to overcome the deficiencies of current synthetic libraries.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author