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https://github.com/xpsi-group/xpsi

X-PSI: X-ray Pulse Simulation and Inference
https://github.com/xpsi-group/xpsi

astronomical-algorithms astronomy astrophysical-simulation astrophysics likelihood-functions modeling parameter-estimation posterior-sampling sampling statistics-modeling x-ray-astronomy

Last synced: 2 months ago
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X-PSI: X-ray Pulse Simulation and Inference

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README 

          
.. _readme:



X-PSI

=====



**An open-source package for neutron star**

**\ X-ray Pulse Simulation and Inference.**



|Python version| |Build Status Main| |Docs| |GitHub Release| |Repo status|



|joss| |doi|



X-PSI is designed to simulate rotationally-modified (pulsed) surface 

X-ray emission from neutron stars, taking into account relativistic 

effects on the emitted radiation. This can then be used to perform 

Bayesian statistical inference on real or simulated astronomical data 

sets. Model parameters of interest may include neutron star mass and 

radius (useful to constrain the properties of ultradense nuclear matter) 

or the system geometry and properties of the hot emitting surface-regions. 

To achieve this, X-PSI couples code for likelihood functionality (simulation) 

with existing open-source software for posterior sampling (inference).



It provides the following functionality:



* Simulation of time- and energy resolved X-ray emission (pulse profiles) from the surfaces of neutron stars.

* The facility to implement multiple models for surface patterns, atmospheres, and different instruments.

* Coupling of pulse simulation functionality to statistical sampling software to infer spacetime and geometric parameters from pulse profile data.

* An extensive suite of post-processing software to visualize posteriors and measures of model quality.



For more details on current and planned capabilities, check out the 

`X-PSI documentation `_.



Installation and Testing

------------------------



X-PSI has a complex set of dependencies, and is therefore currently best 

installed from source. The documentation provides

`step-by-step installation instructions `_

for Linux and for limited MacOS systems.



Documentation

-------------



The documentation for X-PSI, including a wide range of tutorials and scripts for 

running X-PSI on HPC systems, can be found at `https://xpsi-group.github.io/xpsi/ `_.



How to get in touch or get involved

-----------------------------------



We always welcome contributions and feedback! We are especially interested in 

hearing from you if



* something breaks,

* you spot bugs, 

* if there is missing functionality, or,

* you have suggestions for future development.



To get in touch, please `open an issue `_.

Even better, if you have code you'd be interested in contributing, please send a 

`pull request `_ (or get in touch 

and we'll help guide you through the process!). 



For more information, you can take a look at the documentation's 

`Contributing page `_. Please also 

make sure you take a look at the `Code of Conduct `_. 



Citing X-PSI

-----------

If you find this package useful in your research, please provide the appropriate acknowledgment 

and citation. `Our documentation `_ provides 

more detail, including links to appropriate papers and BibTeX entries.



Copyright and Licensing

-----------------------

All content © 2016-2026 the authors. 

The code is distributed under the GNU General Public License v3.0; see `LICENSE `_ for details.



Legacy

------ 

An earlier version (pre-v0.5) of this project was named:

A prototype open-source package for neutron star X-ray Pulsation Simulation

and Inference.



.. |Python version| image:: https://img.shields.io/badge/Python-%3E=3.9-blue.svg

   :target: https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-390/

.. |Build Status Main| image:: https://github.com/xpsi-group/xpsi/workflows/CI%20Tests/badge.svg

   :target: https://github.com/xpsi-group/xpsi/actions/

.. |Docs| image:: https://img.shields.io/badge/docs-latest-brightgreen.svg?style=flat

   :target: https://xpsi-group.github.io/xpsi/index.html

.. |GitHub release| image:: https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/xpsi-group/xpsi

   :target: https://github.com/xpsi-group/xpsi/releases/latest

.. |Repo status| image:: https://www.repostatus.org/badges/latest/active.svg

   :alt: Project Status: Active – The project has reached a stable, usable state and is being actively developed.

   :target: https://www.repostatus.org/#active

.. |joss| image:: https://joss.theoj.org/papers/10.21105/joss.04977/status.svg

   :target: https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.04977

.. |doi| image:: https://zenodo.org/badge/DOI/10.5281/zenodo.7632628.svg

   :target: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7632628