agnpy: An open-source python package modelling the radiative processes of jetted active galactic nuclei

TL;DR

agnpy is an open-source Python package that models the radiative processes in the jets of active galactic nuclei, facilitating astrophysicists in interpreting multi-wavelength emission with validated, reproducible tools.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive, validated, open-source Python package for modeling radiative processes in jetted active galactic nuclei, enhancing reproducibility and accessibility in astrophysical research.

Findings

Achieves 10-30% agreement with literature and other tools.

Provides a systematic collection of radiative processes in an open-source package.

Facilitates modeling and interpretation of AGN emission across wavelengths.

Abstract

Modelling the broadband emission of jetted active galactic nuclei (AGN) constitutes one of the main research topics of extragalactic astrophysics in the multi-wavelength and multi-messenger domain. We present agnpy, an open-source python package modelling the radiative processes of relativistic particles accelerated in the jets of active galactic nuclei. The package includes classes describing the galaxy components responsible for line and thermal emission and calculates the absorption due to $\gamma\gamma$ pair production on several photon fields. agnpy aims at extending the effort of modelling and interpreting the emission of extragalactic sources to a wide number of astrophysicists. We present the package content and illustrate a few examples of applications of its functionalities. We validate the software by comparing its results against the literature and against other open-source software. We illustrate the utility of agnpy in addressing the most common questions encountered while modelling the emission of jetted active galaxies. When comparing its results against the literature and other modelling tools adopting the same physical assumptions, we achieve an agreement within $10-30\%$. agnpy represents one of the first systematic and validated collection of established radiative processes for jetted active galaxies in an open-source python package. We hope it will stand also among the first endeavours providing reproducible and transparent astrophysical software not only for data reduction and analysis, but also for modelling and interpretation.