The Roman Space Telescope will have the first advanced coronagraph in space,
with deformable mirrors for wavefront control, low-order wavefront sensing and
maintenance, and a photon-counting detector. It is expected to be able to
detect and characterize mature, giant exoplanets in reflected visible light.
Over the past decade the performance of the coronagraph in its flight
environment has been simulated with increasingly detailed diffraction and
structural/thermal finite element modeling. With the instrument now being
integrated in preparation for launch within the next few years, the present
state of the end-to-end modeling is described, including the measured flight
components such as deformable mirrors. The coronagraphic modes are thoroughly
described, including characteristics most readily derived from modeling. The
methods for diffraction propagation, wavefront control, and structural and
thermal finite-element modeling are detailed. The techniques and procedures
developed for the instrument will serve as a foundation for future
coronagraphic missions such as the Habitable Worlds Observatory.Comment: 113 pages, 85 figures, to be published in SPIE Journal of
Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and System