Welcome to Katsu’s documentation!

Katsu is a package for enabling polarimetry in the laboratory, complete with capabilities for polarimeter simulation, polarimetric data reduction routines, and some simple classes for serial communication with rotation stages that enable polarimetry. Katsu was developed as a part of a NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunity Visiting Technologist Experience at Subaru Telescope, with the aim of enhancing our understanding of instrumental polarization in astronomical telescopes.

Summary

What this software does:

  • Spatially-broadcasted Mueller calculus: Katsu is structured to enable

  • Routines for full Stokes and Mueller data reduction: Katsu contains routines for polarimetric data reduction for full Stokes and Mueller polarimeters

  • Options for controlling motion stages that enable polarimetry: Katsu contains a full Python API for Newport’s Agilis Rotation mounts, enabling the operation of rotating-retarder polarimeters in the laboratory.

Getting Started

We reccomend that first-time visitors check out the Intro to Mueller Calculus Tutorial for a brief review of Mueller calculus, and how to perform simple operations in Katsu.

Indices and tables