ixpeobssim is a simulation and analysis framework, based on the Python programming language and the associated scientific ecosystem, specifically developed for the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). Given a source model and the response functions of the telescopes, it is designed to produce realistic simulated observations, in the form of event lists in FITS format, containing a strict super-set of the information provided by standard IXPE level-2 files. The core ixpeobssim simulation capabilities are complemented by a full suite of post-processing applications, allowing for the implementation of complex, polarization-aware analysis pipelines, and facilitating the inter-operation with the standard visualization and analysis tools traditionally in use by the X-ray community. We emphasize that, although a significant part of the framework is specific to IXPE, the modular nature of the underlying implementation makes it potentially straightforward to adapt it to different missions with polarization capabilities.
@article{arxiv.2203.06384,
title = {ixpeobssim: a Simulation and Analysis Framework for the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer},
author = {L. Baldini and N. Bucciantini and N. Di Lalla and S. R. Ehlert and A. Manfreda and M. Negro and N. Omodei and M. Pesce-Rollins and C. Sgrò and S. Silvestri},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2203.06384},
year = {2022}
}
Comments
12 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication on SoftwareX; source code available at https://github.com/lucabaldini/ixpeobssim