GRaTeR-JAX

GPU-accelerated modeling of scattered-light disks

GRaTeR-JAX is a Python library for forward modeling of scattered-light images of circumstellar debris disks. It builds upon the Generalized Radial Transporter (GRaTeR) framework (Augereau+ 1999) using the JAX ecosystem to achieve fast, differentiable, GPU-accelerated computation for disk simulations, parameter inference, and image optimization.

Developed by the UCSB Exoplanet Polarimetry Lab, GRaTeR-JAX provides the foundation for analyzing debris disks using modern differentiable programming techniques.


Features

  • GPU/TPU acceleration through JAX

  • Differentiable physical modeling for analytical gradient-based optimization

  • Spline SPF Modeling for more dynamic and accurate scattering phase function (SPF) fitting

  • PSF convolution for both static and dynamic PSFs, such as those from JWST

  • Modular design for more flexibility and control

  • Higher Level API for more intuitive and user-friendly disk fitting

  • Image Processing Utilities for ingesting data, making PSF models, and estimating noise


Bugs and Feature Requests

Please use the GitHub Issue Tracker to submit bug reports, documentation issues, or feature requests. Contributions from the community are always welcome.


Attribution

The development of GRaTeR-JAX is led by Mihir Kondapalli, Briley Lewis, Jaren Ashcraft, and Max Millar-Blanchaer with contributions from members of the UCSB Exoplanet Polarimetry Lab and the wider astrophysics software community.

If you build upon this package, please cite both GRaTeR-JAX (Kondapalli et al. in prep JOSS, Lewis et al. in prep AJ) and the original GRaTeR framework (Augereau+ 1999).


Acknowledgments

This work was developed by the UCSB Exoplanet Polarimetry Lab.


Contents