by Chris Peterson » Fri Jan 29, 2010 3:03 pm
makc wrote:This thing? Abstract:
We introduce a method to experimentally measure the monochromatic transmission matrix of a complex medium in optics... We determine the transmission matrix of a thick random scattering sample. We show that this matrix exhibits statistical properties in good agreement with random matrix theory and allows light focusing and imaging through the random medium.
I doubt this will have much, if any, impact on the development of telescope optics. The paper doesn't describe the development of any major new optical theory, only a method to measure an already described physical characteristic of optical materials. In particular, they are concerned with inhomogeneous materials, which are not what you typically find in the sort of conventional optics used in telescopes. The refractive components that are used (found in corrector lenses, adaptive optics, and other parts of the telescope) are fabricated from homogeneous materials, and the sort of measurements described in the paper are probably of little practical value to the optician using them.
If this work produces practical results for astronomy, I think it's more likely to be found in cameras and various detectors, where you are much more likely to find exotic heterogeneous optical materials.
[quote="makc"][url=http://arxiv.org/abs/0910.5436]This thing[/url]? Abstract:[quote]We introduce a method to experimentally measure the monochromatic transmission matrix of a complex medium in optics... We determine the transmission matrix of a thick random scattering sample. We show that this matrix exhibits statistical properties in good agreement with random matrix theory and allows light focusing and imaging through the random medium.[/quote][/quote]
I doubt this will have much, if any, impact on the development of telescope optics. The paper doesn't describe the development of any major new optical theory, only a method to measure an already described physical characteristic of optical materials. In particular, they are concerned with inhomogeneous materials, which are not what you typically find in the sort of conventional optics used in telescopes. The refractive components that are used (found in corrector lenses, adaptive optics, and other parts of the telescope) are fabricated from homogeneous materials, and the sort of measurements described in the paper are probably of little practical value to the optician using them.
If this work produces practical results for astronomy, I think it's more likely to be found in cameras and various detectors, where you are much more likely to find exotic heterogeneous optical materials.