ExoMol line lists – IV. The rotation–vibration spectrum of methane up to 1500 K

Abstract

A new hot line list is calculated for 12CH4 in its ground electronic state. This line list, called 10to10, contains 9.8 billion transitions and should be complete for temperatures up to 1500 K. It covers the wavelengths longer than 1 μm and includes all transitions to upper states with energies below hc · 18 000 cm−1 and rotational excitation up to J = 39. The line list is computed using the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of CH4 obtained by variational solution of the Schrödinger equation for the rotation–vibration motion of nuclei employing program trove and a new ‘spectroscopic’ potential energy surface (PES) obtained by refining an ab initio PES (CCSD(T)-F12c/aug-cc-pVQZ) through least-squares fitting to the experimentally derived energies with J = 0-4 and a previously reported ab initio dipole moment surface (CCSD(T)-F12c/aug-cc-pVTZ). Detailed comparisons with other available sources of methane transitions including HITRAN, experimental compilations and other theoretical line lists show that these sources lack transitions both higher temperatures and near-infrared wavelengths. The 10to10 line list is suitable for modelling atmospheres of cool stars and exoplanets. It is available from the CDS data base as well as at www.exomol.com.