lfkit.corrections.color_anchors#

Color-anchor utilities for kcorrect.

Core concept:

An “anchor” is defined by a single two-band color constraint:

color = (band_a - band_b) = color_value

where band_a and band_b are kcorrect response names (e.g. “sdss_g0”).

This module is intentionally agnostic: - no galaxy “types” - no “red/blue” naming - no survey assumptions beyond optional filter mapping wrappers

What this module does:

The goal is simply to obtain a set of kcorrect template coefficients that reproduce a specified two-band color at a given redshift. Since a color only fixes a flux ratio, the overall normalization of the SED is arbitrary. To make the problem well defined we choose an arbitrary reference magnitude (“anchor”) and construct a minimal synthetic photometry vector consistent with the requested color. Those fluxes are then passed to kcorrect to solve for the template mixture.

Important limitations:

The resulting coefficients are not a unique physical SED fit. A single color constraint leaves large degeneracies in template space. The anchor normalization is purely a gauge choice, and no attempt is made to infer galaxy type, stellar population parameters, dust, or luminosity evolution. The coefficients are therefore best interpreted as a convenient internal representation for evaluating K(z) curves consistent with the specified color constraint.

Functions

fit_coeffs_from_bandcolor(*, color, color_value)

Fit kcorrect coefficients from a single two-band color constraint.