High-precision fringe tracking invariant to systematic model errors.
We present a new approach to processing of interferometric data, which dramatically improves operation on the smallest fraction of the fringe (approximately 1/1,000 of a wavelength and beyond). In particular, this approach, dubbed the variation-invariant subspace tracking approach (VISTA), makes it possible to operate a Michelson interferometer in a highly stable mode in which the estimation of optical path delay becomes invariant (insensitive) to a large class of systematic model errors. This previously unknown invariance property of interferometry follows from the fundamental odd-even symmetry of the channeled spectrum and its derivatives. VISTA offers a powerful algorithmic alternative for alleviating technological challenges in the design of high-precision long-baseline spaceborne interferometers.
Karlov
V I
VI
SBI-Moldyn Inc, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
Padilla
C E
CE
Soosaar
K
K
Matson
L E
LE
Chun
H M
HM
Webb
G V
GV