The RT-synth Algorithm

RT-synth (Radiative Transfer Synthesis for 3D-PDR Outputs) is a radiative transfer code designed to post-process 3D density, temperature, abundances, and level population fields generated by 3D-PDR. It calculates observable properties by solving the radiative transfer equation along three principal sightlines: +x, +y, and +z. Users can generate both velocity-integrated intensity maps (in K km s⁻¹) and spectral line cubes of brightness temperature (in K) at a specified spectral resolution. When hydrodynamic velocity fields are available from the parent simulation, RT-synth can produce position–velocity cubes that preserve kinematic information. Outputs are provided in ASCII format and can be conveniently converted to standard FITS files for visualization and further analysis in tools such as DS9.

The algorithm runs only from terminal. You can download the algorithm from this GitHub link.