PyTDI

PyTDI is a Python package that provides a toolset to perform symbolical and numerical time-delay interferometry (TDI) calculations. It can be used to define arbitrary linear combination of time-shifted signals (i.e., combinations), symbolically handle these combinations, and numerically evaluate these combinations against data.

PyTDI also provides ready-to-use standard TDI combinations for the LISA mission.

Contributing

Report an issue

We use the issue-tracking management system associated with the project provided by Gitlab. If you want to report a bug or request a feature, open an issue at https://gitlab.in2p3.fr/LISA/LDPG/wg6_inrep/pytdi/-/issues. You may also thumb-up or comment on existing issues.

Development environment

We use uv as a package and dependency manager.

To setup your development environment, first clone the repository.

git clone git@gitlab.in2p3.fr:LISA/LDPG/wg6_inrep/pytdi.git
cd pytdi

We recommend you install the pre-commit hooks with

uv run pre-commit install

You can then run commands with

uv run <YOUR-COMMAND>

To manually create your virtual environement with the PyTDI dependencies, use

uv venv
uv sync

Workflow

The project's development workflow is based on the issue-tracking system provided by Gitlab, as well as peer-reviewed merge requests. This ensures high-quality standards.

Issues are solved by creating branches and opening merge requests. Only the assignee of the related issue and merge request can push commits on the branch. Once all the changes have been pushed, the "draft" specifier on the merge request is removed, and the merge request is assigned to a reviewer. They can push new changes to the branch, or request changes to the original author by re-assigning the merge request to them. When the merge request is accepted, the branch is merged onto master, deleted, and the associated issue is closed.

Pylint, mypy, black and pytest

We enforce PEP 8 (Style Guide for Python Code) with Pylint syntax checking, and testing of the code via unit and integration tests with the pytest framework. We use mypy as static type checker, and Black as the syntax formatter.

All in the continuous integration system and pre-commit hooks. Only if all tests pass successfully a merge request can be merged.

VS Code tasks for each of these tools are avaialble. Open the command palette, choose "Run task", and choose a task to run.

How to cite

By releasing PyTDI as an open source software package we want to foster open science and enable everyone to use it in their research free of charge. However, please keep in mind that developing and maintaining such a tool takes time and effort. Hence, we would appreciate to be associated with you research:

• Please cite the DOI (see badge above), and acknowledge the authors in any publication that uses PyTDI
• Do not hesitate to send an email for support and/or collaboration