SIXTE MANUAL Ref. : SIXTE-MANUAL (v1.3.12) Date : 25 Nov 2020 Description of the SIXTE simulator Page : 1 of 91 Abstract We present the SIXTE software package, a generic, mission-independent Monte Carlo simulation toolkit for X-ray astronomical instrumentation. The targets to be observed are stored in so-called SIMPUT files implementing a comprehensive format to describe simple as well as sophisticated source models. Based on such a source definition, a sample of photons is produced as input for an instrument simulator. The software toolkit contains modules for imaging X-ray telescopes, collimators, and different detector types in order to assemble an instrument model. The flexibility achieved by this approach makes it a powerful tool for the development and exploration of new instruments. The implementation of specific effects enables the analysis of characteristic features such as pile-up and their impact on observations. Change Record Issue Date Description of Change Affected Pages 1 2016-04-17 pre-Release All 2 2016-04-26 refined the tutorials 21–66 3 2017-07-24 updated erosita tutorial 62–66 4 2017-10-10 updated background and tutorial 16–end 5 2018-01-29 added tessim tutorial 62 6 2018-01-29 revised tutorials, added appendix 34–71 7 2018-12-22 added time variability tutorials 45–49 8 2019-01-04 added description of PHA2PI correction 33-35,78,79 Distribution List Organization Name Organization Name Organization Name Approvals Function Name Date Signature Author T. Dauser N/A Author S. Falkner N/A Author J. Wilms N/A Author P. Peille N/A SIXTE MANUAL Ref. : SIXTE-MANUAL (v1.3.12) Date : 25 Nov 2020 Description of the SIXTE simulator Page : 2 of 91 Contents List of Figures 5 List of TBD Issues 5 List of TBC Issues 5 1 Introduction to the SIXTE Simulator 7 1.1 General Idea . 7 1.2 The Software . 8 2 Source Definition (SIMPUT) 10 2.1 Source catalog . 10 2.2 Energy Spectrum . 10 2.3 Time Variability . 10 2.4 Spatial Extent . 11 3 Photon Generation 12 3.1 Source Selection . 12 3.2 Photon Time . 12 3.3 Photon Energy . 12 3.4 Photon Direction of Origin . 12 4 Photon imaging 13 4.1 Vignetting . 13 4.2 PSF randomization . 13 4.3 Instrument Coordinate System . 14 5 Background Events 15 5.1 Sampling from a Background Spectrum . 15 5.2 Sampling from a Background Event List . 15 5.2.1 Background Event List Format . 15 5.2.2 Header Keywords . 15 5.3 Time Variable Background in SIXTE . 16 6 Specific Instruments 17 6.1 Athena –WFI........................................... 17 6.1.1 Chip Geometries . 17 6.1.2 Telescope Configurations . 17 6.1.3 WFI Exmaple XML File . 18 6.1.4 Specific Tools . 18 6.2 Athena – X-IFU . 19 6.2.1 Baseline focal plane geometry and simulation parameters . 19 6.2.2 Specific Tools . 19 6.3 extended Röntgen Survey with an Imaging Telescope Array (eROSITA) . 19 6.3.1 Specific Tools . 22 6.4 XMM-Newton – EPIC-pn . 23 6.5 Suzaku . 23 SIXTE MANUAL Ref. : SIXTE-MANUAL (v1.3.12) Date : 25 Nov 2020 Description of the SIXTE simulator Page : 3 of 91 7 Photon Detection for Silicon Detectors 26 7.1 Camera Coordinate System . 26 7.2 DEPFET Specific Features . 26 7.2.1 DEPFET principles . 27 7.2.2 DEPFET implementation . 27 8 Photon Detection for Calorimeter Detectors 30 8.1 Focal plane geometry description . 30 8.2 RMF based simulation . 31 8.3 TES simulations . 31 8.3.1 tessim . 31 8.3.2 SIRENA . 33 9 Simulation calibration 34 9.1 Automated Pha2Pi correction . 34 9.2 Manual Pha2Pi correction using the pha2pi tool . 35 9.3 Monte Carlo PI-RMF . 36 9.4 ARF calibration . 36 10 Tutorial and Cookbook for SIXTE Simulations 38 10.1 Introduction . 38 10.2 General Introduction to Simulations with SIXTE . 38 10.2.1 Step 0: SIXTE installation setup . 38 10.2.2 Step 1: Preparing the SIMPUT-file . 39 10.2.3 An Aside: Inspecting FITS-files with HEASOFT tools . 43 10.2.4 Step 2: Running the simulation . 44 10.2.5 Step 3: Analyzing the simulation . 45 10.3 Time Variability . 51 10.3.1 Light Curve . 52 10.3.2 Periodic Variability . 53 10.3.3 Power Spectrum . 54 10.3.4 Time Variable Spectra . 54 10.4 Deep Field Simulations of the WFI . 55 10.4.1 SIMPUT for a Large Field . 55 10.4.2 Simple Wide Field Simulations . 56 10.4.3 Simulating the Chandra Deep Field South . 59 10.4.4 Dithering and Exposure Map . 60 10.4.5 The next steps . 63 10.4.6 Used SIXTE tools in this section . 63 10.5 Extended source simulations . 63 10.5.1 Generating the SIMPUT file . 63 10.5.2 Simulating the observation . 65 10.6 Observations with eROSITA ................................... 66 10.6.1 Pointed Observations . 66 10.6.2 All-Sky survey . 67 10.6.3 Simulating single sources in the All-Sky survey . 68 10.6.4 Downloading eROSITA files . 68 10.7 Simulations of Galaxy Clusters with the X-IFU . 69 SIXTE MANUAL Ref. : SIXTE-MANUAL (v1.3.12) Date : 25 Nov 2020 Description of the SIXTE simulator Page : 4 of 91 10.7.1 SIMPUT file for 3D data . 69 10.8 How to run and analyze an X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) simulation . 72 10.9 How to run a simulation with tessim . 75 10.9.1 Used SIXTE tools in this section . 76 A SIMPUT Tools 77 A.1 Overview . 77 A.2 List of Tools . 78 A.2.1 simputfile, simputsrc, simputspec, simputlc, simputpsd, simputimg . 78 A.2.2 simputverify ...................................... 80 A.2.3 simputmerge ....................................... 80 A.2.4 simputmultispec .................................... 80 A.2.5 simputrotate ...................................... 81 B SIXTE Tools 81 C XML Instrument Configuration 83 D Charge Cloud Models 85 D.1 Gaussian Charge Clouds . 85 D.2 Charge Split Model . 85 E Crosstalk Implemenation for Calorimeter Detectors 86 E.1 Thermal Crosstalk . 86 E.2 Electrical Crosstalk . ..