13,555 research outputs found
The Structure of High Strehl Ratio Point-Spread Functions
We describe the symmetries present in the point-spread function (PSF) of an
optical system either located in space or corrected by an adaptive o to Strehl
ratios of about 70% and higher. We present a formalism for expanding the PSF to
arbitrary order in terms of powers of the Fourier transform of the residual
phase error, over an arbitrarily shaped and apodized entrance aperture. For
traditional unapodized apertures at high Strehl ratios, bright speckles pinned
to the bright Airy rings are part of an antisymmetric perturbation of the
perfect PSF, arising from the term that is first order in the residual phase
error. There are two symmetric second degree terms. One is negative at the
center, and, like the first order term, is modulated by the perfect image's
field strength -- it reduces to the Marechal approximation at the center of the
PSF. The other is non-negative everywhere, zero at the image center, and can be
responsible for an extended halo -- which limits the dynamic range of faint
companion detection in the darkest portions of the image. In regimes where one
or the other term dominates the speckles in an image, the symmetry of the
dominant term can be exploited to reduce the effect of those speckles,
potentially by an order of magnitude or more. We demonstrate the effects of
both secondary obscuration and pupil apodization on the structure of residual
speckles, and discuss how these symmetries can be exploited by appropriate
telescope and instrument design, observing strategies, and filter bandwidths to
improve the dynamic range of high dynamic range AO and space-based
observations. Finally, we show that our analysis is relevant to high dynamic
range coronagraphy.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ; 20 pages, 4 figure
An Algorithm for Precise Aperture Photometry of Critically Sampled Images
We present an algorithm for performing precise aperture photometry on
critically sampled astrophysical images. The method is intended to overcome the
small-aperture limitations imposed by point-sampling. Aperture fluxes are
numerically integrated over the desired aperture, with sinc-interpolation used
to reconstruct values between pixel centers. Direct integration over the
aperture is computationally intensive, but the integrals in question are shown
to be convolution integrals and can be computed ~10000x faster as products in
the wave-number domain. The method works equally well for annular and
elliptical apertures and could be adapted for any geometry. A sample of code is
provided to demonstrate the method.Comment: Accepted MNRA
Quantifying Resonant Structure in NGC 6946 from Two-dimensional Kinematics
We study the two-dimensional kinematics of the H-alpha-emitting gas in the
nearby barred Scd galaxy, NGC 6946, in order to determine the pattern speed of
the primary m=2 perturbation mode. The pattern speed is a crucial parameter for
constraining the internal dynamics, estimating the impact velocities of the
gravitational perturbation at the resonance radii, and to set up an
evolutionary scenario for NGC 6946. Our data allows us to derive the best
fitting kinematic position angle and the geometry of the underlying gaseous
disk, which we use to derive the pattern speed using the Tremaine-Weinberg
method. We find a main pattern speed Omega_p=22 km/s/kpc, but our data clearly
reveal the presence of an additional pattern speed Omega_p=47 km/s/kpc in a
zone within 1.25 kpc of the nucleus. Using the epicyclic approximation, we
deduce the location of the resonance radii and confirm that inside the outer
Inner Lindblad Resonance radius of the main oval, a primary bar has formed
rotating at more than twice the outer pattern speed. We further confirm that a
nuclear bar has formed inside the Inner Lindblad Resonance radius of the
primary bar, coinciding with the inner Inner Lindblad Resonance radius of the
large-scale m=2 mode oval.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
On the bar pattern speed determination of NGC 3367
An important dynamic parameter of barred galaxies is the bar pattern speed.
Among several methods that are used for the determination of the pattern speed
the Tremaine-Weinberg method has the advantage of model independency and
accuracy. In this work we apply the method to a simulated bar including gas
dynamics and study the effect of 2D spectroscopy data quality on robustness of
the method. We added a white noise and a Gaussian random field to the data and
measured the corresponding errors in the pattern speed. We found that a signal
to noise ratio in surface density ~5 introduces errors of ~20% for the Gaussian
noise, while for the white noise the corresponding errors reach ~50%. At the
same time the velocity field is less sensitive to contamination. On the basis
of the performed study we applied the method to the NGC 3367 spiral galaxy
using H{\alpha} Fabry-Perot interferometry data. We found for the pattern speed
43 \pm 6 km/s/kpc for this galaxy.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 16 pages, 16 figure
Propagation of spatially entangled qudits through free space
We show the propagation of entangled states of high-dimensional quantum
systems. The qudits states were generated using the transverse correlation of
the twin photons produced by spontaneous parametric down-conversion. Their
free-space distribution was performed at the laboratory scale and the
propagated states maintained a high-fidelity with their original form. The use
of entangled qudits allow an increase in the quantity of information that can
be transmitted and may also guarantee more privacy for communicating parties.
Therefore, studies about propagating entangled states of qudits are important
for the effort of building quantum communication networks.Comment: 5 Pages, 4 Figures, REVTeX
Performance Investigation on Scan-On-Receive and Adaptive Digital Beam-Forming for High-Resolution Wide-Swath Synthetic Aperture Radar
The work investigates the performance of the Smart Multi-Aperture Radar Technique (SMART) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) system for high-resolution wide-swath imaging based on Scan-on-Receive (SCORE) algorithm for receive beam steering. SCORE algorithm works under model mismatch conditions in presence of topographic height. A study on the potentiality of an adaptive approach for receive beam steering based on spatial spectral estimation is presented. The impact of topographic height on SCORE performance in different operational scenarios is examined, with reference to a realistic SAR system. The SCORE performance is compared to that of the adaptive approach by using the Cramèr Rao lower bound analysis
Non-invasive, near-field terahertz imaging of hidden objects using a single pixel detector
Terahertz (THz) imaging has the ability to see through otherwise opaque
materials. However, due to the long wavelengths of THz radiation
({\lambda}=300{\mu}m at 1THz), far-field THz imaging techniques are heavily
outperformed by optical imaging in regards to the obtained resolution. In this
work we demonstrate near-field THz imaging with a single-pixel detector. We
project a time-varying optical mask onto a silicon wafer which is used to
spatially modulate a pulse of THz radiation. The far-field transmission
corresponding to each mask is recorded by a single element detector and this
data is used to reconstruct the image of an object placed on the far side of
the silicon wafer. We demonstrate a proof of principal application where we
image a printed circuit board on the underside of a 115{\mu}m thick silicon
wafer with ~100{\mu}m ({\lambda}/4) resolution. With subwavelength resolution
and the inherent sensitivity to local conductivity provided by the THz probe
frequencies, we show that it is possible to detect fissures in the circuitry
wiring of a few microns in size. Imaging systems of this type could have other
uses where non-invasive measurement or imaging of concealed structures with
high resolution is necessary, such as in semiconductor manufacturing or in
bio-imaging
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