pyralysis 3.2.0

Regularized image reconstruction for radio interferometry — simulate an array, state χ² + regularizers, reconstruct on CPU or GPU. Not a black-box CLEAN.

Pyralysis is a Python library (Dask, optional CuPy) for simulation, gridding, and image reconstruction. You compose the objective; there is no hidden imager. It complements CASA / WSClean (CLEAN-style imaging) and tools like ehtim (VLBI RML): here the focus is composable χ² + regularizers at array / cluster scale.

Who it’s for. Researchers who want an explicit objective and GPU or Dask scaling — not a drop-in tclean.

I/O & arrays. Measurement Set · FITS · Zarr · bundled VLA/ALMA configs · natural / uniform / robust weights · closure phase & amplitude · CPU or CuPy.

Guides: Read the Docs · website: clirai.gitlab.io. If you use Pyralysis in a paper, please cite it.

You can

Simulate an observation

VLA, ALMA, or a custom antenna config; parametric or FITS sky models; thermal noise and gain injectors.

ALMA C-9, Band 6 (230 GHz), 2 h with thermal noise: a protoplanetary disk (Planck brightness, T ∝ r^−1/2, optically thick core, gaps and rings) built from 80 DiskSource rings, plus three background sources — sky, uv coverage, and the real part of the visibilities against deprojected uv distance.

Simulation · examples/scripts/simulation_components.py

Make a dirty map and PSF

Natural, uniform, or robust weights, then a dirty image and dirty beam.

Visibility weights · Gridding · examples/scripts/dirtymapper_components.py

Reconstruct a model

State χ² plus L1, TSV, or other regularizers; solve with FISTA, L-BFGS, or SDMM. The figures below are MFISTA (monotone FISTA) on χ² + L1 from zeros, natural weights, on the GPU (CuPy).

Dirty image → MFISTA reconstruction (Jy/pixel) → residual. Same ALMA disk simulation as above; square-root stretch.

MFISTA (monotone FISTA) iterates from a zero start.

Regenerate the gallery with python docs/scripts/generate_readme_figures.py. Optimization · FISTA · examples/scripts/optimization_components.py

Image with closures, on GPU, or on a cluster

Closure-phase / closure-amplitude terms; the same stack on CuPy or a Dask cluster; read and write Measurement Sets, Zarr, and FITS.

Closures · Array backends · Pipelines · I/O

Notebooks without installing: Binder. How the pieces fit together: composability, flexibility, extensibility, adaptability.

Install

Python 3.11–3.13. The SKA extra index is required for a few dependencies.

pip install --extra-index-url https://artefact.skao.int/repository/pypi-internal/simple pyralysis[all]

GPU: micromamba create -f envs/cuda13.yml (Maxwell/Pascal/Volta: envs/cuda12.yml, Kepler: envs/cuda11.yml; see envs/README.md). Details: installation.

Minimal example

Simulate a 1 Jy point source at phase center, add thermal noise, natural-weight, and form a dirty image. With geometry matched to the array (cellsize ≈ beam/3.5), the dirty peak is ≈ 1 Jy/beam.

from importlib.resources import files
from astropy import units as u
from pyralysis.io.antenna_config_io import AntennaConfigurationIo
from pyralysis.simulation import Simulator
from pyralysis.models.sky import PointSource
from pyralysis.injectors import ThermalNoiseInjector
from pyralysis.transformers.weighting_schemes import Natural
from pyralysis.transformers import DirtyMapper

# Bundled VLA-C antenna table (same idea as a CASA .cfg)
cfg = files("pyralysis.simulation") / "antenna_configs" / "vla.c.cfg"
interferometer = AntennaConfigurationIo(input_name=str(cfg)).read()

# Pointing, band, and dump time for a short continuum observation
interferometer.configure_observation(
    min_frequency=1e9 * u.Hz, max_frequency=1.1e9 * u.Hz, frequency_step=1e7 * u.Hz,
    right_ascension="12h00m00s", declination="45d00m00s",
    integration_time=10 * u.s, observation_time="1h",
)

# Unresolved source on-axis; intensity in Jy at the reference frequency
source = PointSource(
    reference_intensity=1.0 * u.Jy, sky_position="12h00m00s 45d00m00s",
    reference_frequency=1e9 * u.Hz,
)

# Visibilities → in-memory Dataset (Measurement Set–like); then SEFD-style noise
dataset = Simulator(interferometer=interferometer, sources=source).simulate(create_dataset=True)
dataset = ThermalNoiseInjector(system_temperature=50, integration_time=10, channel_bandwidth=1e6).apply(dataset)

# Pixel scale from theoretical resolution (~synthesized beam / 3.5)
imsize, cellsize = 128, dataset.theo_resolution / 3.5
Natural(imsize=imsize, cellsize=cellsize, input_data=dataset).transform()  # imaging weights
dataset.calculate_psf()  # dirty beam / PSF for the weighted uv coverage
dirty, _beam = DirtyMapper(
    input_data=dataset, imsize=imsize, cellsize=cellsize, stokes=["I"]
).transform()  # dirty image (Jy/beam) and beam; peak ≈ 1 for this setup

Reconstruction (χ² + L1, FISTA, GPU) is the same composition as the figures — optimization, quickstart.

Citation

Please cite the software (DOI — all versions) and, when relevant, the overview paper:

Cárcamo et al., URSI GASS 2026 — Pyralysis: An Open-Source Framework for Big Data Radio Interferometry.

@software{carcamo2021pyralysis,
  author = {Cárcamo, Miguel and Guidotti, Valeria and Casassus, Simon
            and Rannou, Fernando and Román, Pablo},
  title = {Pyralysis},
  year = {2026},
  publisher = {Zenodo},
  version = {3.1.0},
  doi = {10.5281/zenodo.23541172},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23541172}
}

Stars, forks, and download charts live on the project activity page.

Links

Docs · API · Examples · Website · Contributing · Changelog · Issues

GPL-3.0-only — see LICENSE. Contact: miguel.carcamo@usach.cl