Open AccessOffline, multidetector intensity interferometers – I. Theory
Author(s) -
Ofir Aviv,
Ribak Erez N.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.09966.x
Subject(s) - physics , interferometry , astronomical interferometer , redundancy (engineering) , optics , sensitivity (control systems) , amplitude , limiting , intensity (physics) , wavelength , computer science , electronic engineering , mechanical engineering , engineering , operating system
Stellar amplitude interferometry is limited by the need to have optical distances fixed and known to a fraction of the wavelength. We suggest reviving intensity interferometry, which requires hardware which is many orders of magnitude less accurate, at the cost of more limited sensitivity. We present an algorithm to use the very high redundancy of a uniform linear array to increase the sensitivity of the instrument by more than a 100‐fold. When using an array of 100 elements, each almost 100 m in diameter, and conservative technological improvements, we can achieve a limiting magnitude of about m b = 14.4 . Digitization, storage, and offline processing of all the data will also enable interferometric image reconstruction from a single observation run, and application of various algorithms at any later time. Coronagraphy, selectively suppressing only the large‐scale structure of the source, can be achieved by specific aperture shapes. We conclude that after three decades of abandonment optical intensity interferometry deserves another review.