SPISEA: A Python-Based Simple Stellar Population Synthesis Code for Star Clusters

TL;DR

SPISEA is an open-source Python tool for simulating simple stellar populations with customizable parameters, enabling detailed modeling of star clusters for astrophysical research.

Contribution

It introduces a modular, extensible Python package that allows comprehensive control over stellar population synthesis, including stellar evolution, atmospheres, and remnants, which was not previously available in a single tool.

Findings

Generated color-magnitude and HR diagrams

Produced luminosity and mass functions

Demonstrated flexibility in modeling star clusters

Abstract

We present SPISEA (Stellar Population Interface for Stellar Evolution and Atmospheres), an open-source Python package that simulates simple stellar populations. The strength of SPISEA is its modular interface which offers the user control of 13 input properties including (but not limited to) the Initial Mass Function, stellar multiplicity, extinction law, and the metallicity-dependent stellar evolution and atmosphere model grids used. The user also has control over the Initial-Final Mass Relation in order to produce compact stellar remnants (black holes, neutron stars, and white dwarfs). We demonstrate several outputs produced by the code, including color-magnitude diagrams, HR-diagrams, luminosity functions, and mass functions. SPISEA is object-oriented and extensible, and we welcome contributions from the community. The code and documentation are available on GitHub and ReadtheDocs, respectively.