Measuring deviation from centrosymmetry for a source brightness distribution observed by spectro-interferometry

We report on the testing of the centrosymmetry parameter (CSP), an indicator of deviation from centrosymmetry of a source brightness distribution. This indicator is derived from the spectral distribution of the triple product measured over three baselines of an optical interferometer. Numerical simulations using parametric toy-models (separated or transiting binary, one-spot model), generated with the SPIDAST software, are applied to the VLTI /AMBER facility in the K band (2.2 μm). The simulations show that, in case of centrosymmetry, the CSP parameter is in agreement with the usual phase of the spectral mean of the triple product (called GCP, global closure phase). To justify the preferential use of CSP rather than GCP, we show situations with asymmetric geometries for which GCP diagnoses centrosymmetry, while CSP does not. Using realistic Roche lobe-filling binary and hydrodynamic convective models, we show that CSP can also be used as an indicator for geometric similarity between physical and toy-models. Thus, dealing with real data, the toy-model parameters can be fitted on the measured CSP values, in order to assess the input-parameter values of the most suitable complex physical model that will be used to interpret the data.