Telescope simulations with sim_telarray

sim_telarray (MPIK site, CTAO gitlab repository) is used for telescope simulations, including ray tracing, triggering, readout, and camera-level simulation.

The following executables from the sim_telarray package are used by simtools:

• sim_telarray: Main ray-tracing and detector simulation executable.

• Camera efficiency is calculated by simtools from model tables; no separate sim_telarray executable is used for this calculation.

• rx: Calculates the optical point spread function (PSF) (optional use).

• xyzls: Simulates a calibration light source at a specified position.

• ls-beam: Simulates a laser beam calibration light source.

simtools generates sim_telarray configuration files from model parameters and production-grid settings, then executes sim_telarray as part of production and calibration workflows. The command interface is intentionally lightweight in this component guide; operational details are documented in application-level documentation.