pschitt! - A Python package for the modelling of atmoSpheric Showers and CHerenkov Imaging Terrestrial Telescopes

TL;DR

The paper introduces 'pschitt!', a Python package that simplifies the modeling of atmospheric showers and Cherenkov imaging for telescopes, enabling quick, educational, and outreach applications while maintaining computational efficiency.

Contribution

It provides an accessible, open-source Python tool for simulating atmospheric showers and Cherenkov images, optimized for speed and educational use, filling a gap in existing complex simulation tools.

Findings

Enables first-order studies of primary photon energy and angle effects.

Offers fast, simplified simulations suitable for teaching and outreach.

Open-source and optimized for Python, facilitating widespread use.

Abstract

The simulation of atmospheric showers through Monte-Carlo processes as well as their projection into Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACT) is long and very computing intensive. As these simulations are the most advanced ones from a physics point of view, they are not suited for simple tests. Here we present a Python package developed in order to model atmospheric showers using different profiles and to image them with an array of IACT. This allows for first order studies of the influence of the primary photon energy and angular direction on the stereoscopic images. Its simplicity also makes it convenient for public dissemination and outreach as well as for teaching purposes. This package has been developed to make the most out of the simplicity of Python but has also been optimised for fast calculations. It is developed in the framework of the ASTERICS H2020 project and as such is available as an open-source software.