# rafael-fuente/diffractsim

✨🔬 A flexible diffraction simulator for exploring and visualizing physical optics.

Repository: https://github.com/rafael-fuente/diffractsim
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/diffractsim
Homepage: https://rafael-fuente.github.io/simulating-diffraction-patterns-with-the-angular-spectrum-method-and-python.html
Language: Python
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Topics: optics, diffraction-simulations, python, angular-spectrum-method, physics, physics-simulations, diffraction, diffraction-pattern, wave-optics, holography
Last push: 2026-07-24T03:05:10+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 65/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 94, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2079, "days_push": 40, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1065, forks 143 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:26.719253+00:00)

## What it is
A flexible Python library for simulating and visualizing diffraction and physical optics phenomena using scalar diffraction techniques like the angular spectrum method. It supports arbitrary apertures, lenses, phase holograms, GPU acceleration, and differentiable propagation via a JAX backend.

## Use cases
- simulate diffraction patterns from arbitrary apertures
- visualize polychromatic light propagation with accurate color
- generate and reconstruct phase holograms
- model lens and grating optical setups
- optimize optical designs with differentiable simulation
- teach physical optics with animated simulations

## When to choose
- you need an easy-to-use Python tool for wave optics and diffraction simulations
- you want accurate CIE color reproduction for polychromatic patterns
- you need GPU-accelerated or differentiable light propagation for design tasks

## When to avoid
- you need full vector or electromagnetic (non-scalar) optics modeling
- you require incoherent light simulation, which is not yet implemented
- you need a commercial-grade optical design suite like Zemax

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: simulation, image-processing, data-visualization, machine-learning
- domain: simulation, education, graphics
- platform: python, cross-platform
- tags: optics, diffraction, wave-optics, angular-spectrum-method, holography, jax, physics-simulation, scientific-computing, physics, gpu

## Member repositories
- rafael-fuente/diffractsim (main) score 65

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:26.719253+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T06:55:31.528932+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/rafael-fuente/diffractsim (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:26.719253+00:00, sha 48ae050317b9)
  - homepage: https://rafael-fuente.github.io/simulating-diffraction-patterns-with-the-angular-spectrum-method-and-python.html (fetched 2026-08-29T12:57:49.687925+00:00, sha fb438f5a2019)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.