title: Networks of local minima in optical system optimization.
abstract: We discuss a surprising new feature of the merit function landscape in optical system design. When certain conditions are satisfied, the local minima form a network in which all nodes are connected. Each link between two neighboring minima contains a saddle point with a Morse index of 1. For a simple global optimization search (the symmetric Cooke triplet), the network of the corresponding set of local minima is presented.
authors.affiliation: Optics Research Group, Delft University of Technology, Lorentzweg 1, NL-2628 CJ Delft, The Netherlands. f.bociort@tnw.tudelft.nl
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bociort
authors.forename: Eco
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: van Driel
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Serebriakov