Inicio: 12:00h
Ponente: John Peterson (Purdue University)
Lugar: On-line seminar

We describe a novel tool to simulate astronomical images one photon at a time called the Photon Simulator (PhoSim). PhoSim uses a photon Monte Carlo method using ab initio physics to generate realistic images in the optical/IR waveband. PhoSim starts by sampling spatial-spectral representations of stars and galaxies. PhoSim then propagates those photons through the atmosphere (for ground-based telescopes) and the telescope optics, and ultimately converts the photons into an electron in the sensors which is used to construct the image. PhoSim uses hydrodynamics to represent the atmosphere, advanced raytracing and elasticity theory to describe the optics, and detailed electrostatic solutions to represent the sensor. We highlight a number of applications and show its use on a variety of space-based and ground-based telescopes. PhoSim is surprisingly fast due to the efficient nature of the Monte Carlo approach, advanced numerical algorithms, and the use of multi-threading. PhoSim is publicly available and is continually improved.