M3DIS - A grid of 3D radiation-hydrodynamics stellar atmosphere models for stellar surveys. I. Procedure, validation, and the Sun

Abstract

Large-scale stellar surveys, such as SDSS-V, 4MOST, WEAVE, and PLATO, require accurate atmospheric models and synthetic spectra of stars for accurate analyses of fundamental stellar parameters and chemical abundances. The primary goal of our work is to develop a new approach to solve radiation-hydrodynamics (RHD) and generate model stellar spectra in a self-consistent and highly efficient framework. We build upon the Copenhagen legacy RHD code, the MULTI3D non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) code, and the DISPATCH high-performance framework. The new approach allows us to calculate 3D RHD models of stellar atmospheres on timescales of a few thousand CPU hours and to perform subsequent spectrum synthesis in local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) or NLTE for the desired physical conditions within the parameter space of FGK-type stars. We compare the 3D RHD solar model with other available models and validate its performance against solar observations, including the centre-to-limb variation of intensities and key solar diagnostic lines of H and Fe. We show that the performance of the new code allows to overcome the main bottleneck in 3D NLTE spectroscopy and enables calculations of multi-dimensional grids of synthetic stellar observables for comparison with modern astronomical observations.