v1.7.0 - Locked parameters and vectorization

[eleonoraalei]

Changelog

[1.7.0] - 2026-07-13

Breaking Changes

• Locked component parameters in EAC/YIP mode: Telescope, detector, and coronagraph values are no longer user-definable by default when using EAC/YIP configurations. These now strictly take default values from YAML/YIP files to ensure consistency.
  • To customize components, use ToyModel mode instead.
  • To override specific parameters, use the new parameters['overrides'] = [...] list (defaults to None). The Imaging Tutorial has been updated accordingly to show an example.
  • Impact: Users performing architecture trades with EAC/YIP configurations will need to update their workflows. See migration notes below.
• nchannels default changed from 2 to 1: Previously, the code assumed simultaneous observation in 2 channels for all EAC modes, producing overly optimistic time estimates. This has now been changed to 1 and will be entirely removed in a future release.
  • Impact: Exposure time estimates for EAC1 users will now be more accurate (and will differ from previous results). Proper spectral channel/filter handling is planned for a future release.
• Removed minimum_IWA and maximum_OWA shortcut checks in exposure time calculations. These optimizations are no longer needed due to vectorization performance gains, and their removal eliminates a source of user confusion.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed exposure time calculation to return accurate validation variables across the entire spectrum, instead of only the last wavelength point (previously overwritten in a loop).
• Fixed mag, deltamag, and SNR not being recalculated or regridded correctly when regrid=True.
• Fixed a rebinning issue in physics_validation where detector values matching the original wavelength grid incorrectly failed validation.
• Fixed cases where parameters were silently defaulted without user awareness due to missing calls to parse_input.
• Resolved #11 and #21.
• Closed #7.

Performance Improvements

• Vectorized exposure time calculation — ~10x speed increase by replacing per-wavelength looping with array-based operations.
• Vectorized calc_exozodi_flux and calc_zodi_flux.

New Features / Improvements

• Introduced LOCKED_KEYS for consistent, config-driven component definitions in EAC/YIP mode (see Breaking Changes).
• Enforced parse_parameters calls at every function that touches parameters, adopting a "better-safe-than-sorry" approach. Users no longer need to manually call parse_parameters. If they do, the _parser flag will protect the parameters dictionary from being parsed twice.
• Refactored regrid_spectra and related interpolation functions; all relevant variables are now properly regridded.
• Renamed parse_list_param → normalize_list_shapes for clarity.
• Code now fails clearly when wavelength input is ambiguous, rather than silently proceeding with incorrect assumptions.
• npix_multiplier is now handled as a scalar internally.
• Added temporary regridding support for ifs_eff. This will change in the upcoming major release (see Looking Ahead).
• Expanded logger.debug messages throughout to clarify which values are used and their source (default vs. user-provided).

Testing & Documentation

• Fully unit tested new exposure time and parameter parsing logic.
• Verified and updated tutorials.
• Updated README and glossary to reflect new locked-parameter behavior.

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Migration Notes

• If you use EAC/YIP mode and modify component parameters directly: You must now use parameters['overrides'] to specify which parameters to override. Default behavior (no overrides) is unaffected.
• If you rely on nchannels=2 behavior for EAC1: Exposure time results will change. Please re-validate any saved results generated with previous versions. Reproduce previous results by manually setting nchannels=2 in input parameters.

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Looking Ahead

This release lays groundwork for upcoming changes, including proper spectral channel/filter treatment. Additional breaking changes are planned for a future major release (v2.0.0) — deprecation warnings will be added in upcoming minor releases to help users prepare in advance.