PSF and field of view characteristics of imaging and nulling interferometers

TL;DR

This paper derives analytical expressions for the PSF and FoV of various multi-aperture interferometers, aiding the design of high-resolution imaging systems for space-based exoplanet searches.

Contribution

It extends previous Fourier optics formalism to characterize PSF and FoV for diverse interferometer configurations, including nulling and sparse aperture systems.

Findings

Analytical expressions for PSF and FoV of different interferometers.

Numerical evaluations for various configurations.

Exact object-image relationships for future space missions.

Abstract

In this communication are presented some complements to a recent paper entitled "Simple Fourier optics formalism for high angular resolution systems and nulling interferometry", dealing with imaging and nulling capacities of a few types of multi-aperture optical systems. Herein the characteristics of such systems in terms of Point Spread Function (PSF) and Field of View (FoV) are derived from simple analytical expressions that are further evaluated numerically for various configurations. We consider successively the general cases of Fizeau and Michelson interferometers, and those of a monolithic pupil, nulling telescope, of a nulling, Sheared-Pupil Telescope (SPT), and of a sparse aperture, Axially Combined Interferometer (ACI). The analytical formalism also allows establishing the exact Object-Image relationships applicable to nulling PSTs or ACIs that are planned for future space missions searching for habitable extra-solar planets.