Open-source Radiative Modelling Tools for Extragalactic VHE gamma-ray Sources

TL;DR

This paper reviews open-source software tools for modeling the broad-band emission of extragalactic sources across the electromagnetic spectrum, highlighting their features, physical processes, and software practices.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of existing tools, evaluates their capabilities, and discusses future improvements for next-generation modeling software.

Findings

Current tools cover a range of physical processes

Most tools conform to modern software practices

Recommendations for future software development

Abstract

In this review, we discuss various open-source software for modelling the broad-band emission of extragalactic sources from radio up to the highest gamma ray energies. As we provide an overview of the different tools available, we discuss the physical processes such tools implement and detail the computations they can perform. We also examine their conformity with modern good software practices. After considering the currently available software as a first generation of open-source modelling tools, we outline some desirable characteristics for the next generation.