Implementation of the Polarimetry Focusing Telescope Array Observation Simulator on board the X-Ray Timing and Polarimetry Observatory

An observation simulator is established, on an event-by-event basis, for the Polarimetry Focusing telescope Array (PFA) on board the planned enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry observatory (eXTP). An event generator, based on XIMPOL, is used to sample the parameters of the X-rays reaching the aperture of the telescope. The trajectories and interactions of X-rays through the telescope and the corresponding secondaries are calculated using the optics and detector simulation model built in GEANT4, before being translated into signals in the pixelated readout electronics. It is shown that mirror deformation is required for the optics simulation model, and transportation of ionization electrons is required for the detector simulation model to reproduce the overall performance of the telescope. The developed tool is useful in different mission phases, such as payload optimization in the design phase, discrimination of new phenomena against known physics models in the calibration phases, and sensitivity studies of potential polarized X-ray sources in observation planning. The sensitivity of PFA to the Crab Nebula and Crab pulsar is investigated to demonstrate the application of the tool. Even with the dilution effect, space-resolved and phase-resolved polarimetry can reveal important aspects of the Crab Nebula and Crab pulsar and help break the degeneracy between different models.