Configuration Reference

The default value controls the cast applied to each option.

bayRing configuration files are ini files parsed by configparser. The parser starts from defaults defined in bayRing.initialise.read_config and overrides only the keys present in the file.

Minimal Shape

A minimal run can be as short as:

[I/O]
outdir = my_run
screen-output = 1

[NR-data]
error = constant-0.0001

[Model]
template = Kerr
QNM-modes = 220

[Inference]
nlive = 32
maxmcmc = 32
t-start = 30.0
t-end = 80.0

Missing sections are allowed when every key in that section can use its default. The [Priors] section is optional unless you need custom bounds, fixed values or minimization start values.

[I/O]

Key	Default	Meaning
run-type	full	full, post-processing or plot-NR-only.
screen-output	0	0 redirects stdout/stderr to files; 1 leaves output on the terminal.
show-plots	0	Show Matplotlib windows after plotting.
extract-damping-time-flag	1	Extract damping-time information from amplitude decay in comparison plots where supported.
outdir	./	Output directory for samples, logs, plots and diagnostics.

[NR-data]

Key	Default	Meaning
download	1	Ask the catalogue reader to download data where implemented.
dir	empty string	Local NR data directory.
catalog	SXS	Catalogue backend.
ID	0305	Simulation identifier.
extrap-order	2	SXS extrapolation order.
res-level	-1	Resolution level. For SXS, -1 selects the highest available level.
res-nx	0	Teukolsky radial collocation count. Overrides res-level when paired with nonzero res-nl.
res-nl	0	Teukolsky angular collocation count.
pert-order	lin	Teukolsky perturbation order.
l-NR	2	Spherical NR multipole l to fit.
m	2	Spherical NR multipole m to fit.
error	align-with-mismatch-res-only	NR error prescription.
error-t-min	3e-1	Lower fractional mismatch-alignment window input.
error-t-max	4e-3	Upper fractional mismatch-alignment window input.
add-const	0.0,0.0	Complex constant offset encoded as amplitude,phase.
properties-file	empty string	Optional CSV with additional simulation properties.
fits-file	empty string	Optional CSV with model-fit coefficients.
t-peak-22	0.0	Explicit (2,2) peak time. Nonzero values override peak detection.
waveform-type	strain	Waveform quantity to read where supported.

[Model]

Key	Default	Meaning
template	Kerr	Waveform family.
N-DS-modes	1	Number of damped-sinusoid modes.
QNM-modes	220,221,320	Linear Kerr QNM list.
QQNM-modes	empty string	Quadratic QNM coupling list.
Kerr-tail	0	Add Kerr tail terms.
Kerr-tail-modes	22	Tail mode list written as lm strings.
KerrBinary-version	London2018	London2018, Cheung2023 or noncircular.
KerrBinary-amplitudes-nc-version	empty string	Noncircular amplitude-correction variables.
TEOB-template	HypTan	TEOB post-merger template branch, either HypTan or RatExp.
TEOB-global-fit	1	Use calibrated TEOB global fits. If 0, sample local TEOB calibration coefficients.
TEOB-merger-data	0	Use NR merger peak quantities from properties-file instead of the quasi-circular peak fits.

Some templates override QNM-modes internally. For example KerrBinary and TEOBPM set their calibrated mode lists based on the selected template version.

[Inference]

Key	Default	Meaning
method	Nested-sampler	Nested-sampler, Minimization or Linear-inversion. Linear-inversion is available only for Kerr models whose free parameters are paired amplitude/phase variables.
likelihood	gaussian	gaussian or laplace.
sampler	cpnest	Nested sampler: cpnest or raynest.
nlive	256	Number of live points.
maxmcmc	256	Maximum MCMC steps for nested sampling.
seed	1234	Random seed.
nnest	1	Number of raynest nested samplers.
nensemble	1	Number of raynest ensemble processes.
t-start	20.0	Fit start time in M relative to the selected peak.
t-end	140.0	Fit end time in M relative to the selected peak.
dt-scd	0.0	Delay used for Teukolsky second-order peak conventions.
min-method	trf	SciPy least-squares method: trf or dogbox.
min-iter-max	1000	Maximum least-squares function evaluations per seed.
n-random-seeds	16	Number of minimization starts.
linear-inversion-eigenvalue-tol	1e-10	Fisher eigenvalue floor for linear inversion.

When method is Minimization or Linear-inversion, nlive and maxmcmc are set to None after parsing because no nested sampler is run.

[Priors]

The [Priors] section has no fixed list of keys. It uses parameter names created by the selected waveform model.

Override bounds:

[Priors]
ln_A_220-min = -12.0
ln_A_220-max = 0.0

Fix values:

[Priors]
fix-ln_A_220 = -5.0
fix-phi_220 = 1.0

Set minimization start values:

[Priors]
ln_A_220-start = -6.0
phi_220-start = 3.14

Parameter names are documented in Waveform Models and printed at startup.

[Mismatch-PSD-settings]

These settings control post-inference mismatch and optimal-SNR diagnostics. They do not define the inference likelihood.

Key	Default	Meaning
asd-path	empty string	ASD file path. The code can use its default public ASD path when empty.
obs-time	0.0	Observation time in seconds. If empty/zero, inferred from the PSD grid.
direction	below-and-above	Smooth below, above or both PSD edges.
window_DX, window_DX_max	0.8, 10.0	Low-frequency smoothing window range.
window_SX, window_SX_max	0.8, 10.0	High-frequency smoothing window range.
n_window_DX, n_window_SX	1, 1	Number of grid values for the two window ranges.
steepness, steepness_max	7.0, 200.0	Smoothing steepness range.
n_steepness	1	Number of steepness grid values.
saturation_DX, saturation_DX_max	1.0, 5.0	Low-frequency saturation range.
saturation_SX, saturation_SX_max	1.0, 5.0	High-frequency saturation range.
n_saturation_DX, n_saturation_SX	1, 1	Number of saturation grid values.
n_FFT_points	1	Number of FFT lengths to scan.
n_iterations_C1	1	Number of C1 smoothing iterations.

[Mismatch-GW-parameters]

These settings set the physical strain scale and detector response quantities used in mismatch/SNR diagnostics.

Key	Default	Meaning
M	60	Remnant mass in solar masses.
dL	410	Luminosity distance in Mpc.
ra	1.375	Right ascension in radians.
dec	-0.2108	Declination in radians.
psi	2.659	Polarization angle in radians.

[Flags]

Key	Default	Meaning
apply_window	1	Apply PSD edge smoothing.
C1_flag	1	Apply C1 fixing after smoothing.
clear_directory	1	Clear mismatch smoothing-output subdirectories before running.
compare_TD_FD	0	Also compute frequency-domain checks where implemented.
mismatch_print_flag	0	Print extra mismatch diagnostic information.
mismatch_section_plot_flag	0	Save PSD/ACF/window sanity plots.