Pyxel 1.0: an open source Python framework for detector and end-to-end instrument simulation

Abstract

Detector modeling is becoming more and more critical for the development of new instruments in scientific space missions and ground-based experiments. Modeling tools are often developed from scratch by each individual project and not necessarily shared for reuse by a wider community. To foster knowledge transfer, reusability, and reliability in the instrumentation community, we developed Pyxel, a framework for the simulation of scientific detectors and instruments. Pyxel is an open-source and collaborative project, based on Python, developed as an easy-to-use tool that can host and pipeline any kind of detector effect model. Recently, Pyxel has achieved a new milestone: the public release and launch of version 1.0, which simplified third-party contributions and improved ease of use even further. Since its launch, Pyxel has been experiencing a growing user community and is being used to simulate a variety of detectors. We give a tour of Pyxel’s version 1.0 changes and new features, including a new interface, parallel computing, and new detectors and models. We continue with an example of using Pyxel as a tool for model optimization and calibration. Finally, we describe an example of how Pyxel and its features can be used to develop a full-scale end-to-end instrument simulator.