GRADUS.JL: spacetime-agnostic general relativistic ray-tracing for X-ray spectral modelling

ABSTRACT We introduce gradus.jl, an open-source and publicly available general relativistic ray-tracing toolkit for spectral modelling in arbitrary spacetimes. Our software is written in the julia programming language, making use of forward-mode automatic differentiation for computing the Christoffel symbols during geodesic integration, and for propagating derivatives through the entire ray-tracer. Relevant numerical methods are detailed, and our models are validated using a number of tests and comparisons to other codes. The differentiability is used to optimally calculate Cunningham transfer functions – used to efficiently pre-compute relativistic effects in spectral models. A method is described for calculating such transfer functions for disc with non-zero vertical height, including the treatment of self-obscuration. An extension of the transfer function formalism that includes timing information is described, and used to calculate high-resolution reverberation lag spectra for a lamppost corona. The lag – frequency and lag – energy spectra for a Shakura–Sunyaev accretion disc with various lamppost heights and Eddington ratios are calculated, and the general impact of disc thickness in reflection models is discussed.