Polarization and optical aperture synthesis: the problem and a solution

Details Polarization and optical aperture synthesis: the problem and a solution Polarization and optical aperture synthesis: the problem and a solution

Feb 2003

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003spie.4838..523t&link_type=abstract

Interferometry for Optical Astronomy II. Edited by Wesley A. Traub. Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 4838, pp. 523-537 (2003).

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

1

Scientific paper

Light is not a scalar wave. We only get away with treating it as such when the degree of polarization is very low. This condition often holds for seeing-limited single telescopes, but becomes less likely at spatial resolutions typical for interferometers. For the interferometric environment, optical polarimetry may need to assimilate radio-polarimetric concepts. In particular, the Stokes parameters should be defined in terms of complex correlations rather than as differences of orthogonally-polarized fluxes. Polarization effects in the Coudé train and delay lines spoil the accuracy of traditional quasi-scalar interferometers. An alternative optical architecture is proposed, using traditional (i.e. single-beam) optical polarimetry in the correlator, but 'radio-type' transfer of light from telescope foci to correlator (i.e. 2 clean, fully-polarized, signals from each telescope). Such a fundamental solution can eliminate errors due to inclined mirrors (phase shifts and added polarization). The architecture enables full-Stokes polarimetry at the resolution of the interferometer, but also a 'no-polarization-desired' mode which does not necessarily involve loss of signal-to-noise ratio and yet is free from polarization-induced errors of photometry. Existing polarization components permit a very wide instantaneous bandwidth (e.g. 0.3 to > 1 μm, matching CCD or STJ detectors).

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