No Arabic abstract
The inverse problem in optics, which is closely related to the classical question of the resolving power, is reconsidered as a communication channel problem. The main result is the evaluation of the maximum number $M_epsilon$ of $epsilon$-distinguishable messages ($epsilon$ being a bound on the noise of the image) which can be conveyed back from the image to reconstruct the object. We study the case of coherent illumination. By using the concept of Kolmogorovs $epsilon$-capacity, we obtain: $M_epsilon ~ 2^{S log(1/epsilon)} to infty$ as $epsilon to 0$, where S is the Shannon number. Moreover, we show that the $epsilon$-capacity in inverse optical imaging is nearly equal to the amount of information on the object which is contained in the image. We thus compare the results obtained through the classical information theory, which is based on the probability theory, with those derived from a form of topological information theory, based on Kolmogorovs $epsilon$-entropy and $epsilon$-capacity, which are concepts related to the evaluation of the massiveness of compact sets.
We present an optimization framework based on Lagrange duality and the scattering $mathbb{T}$ operator of electromagnetism to construct limits on the possible features that may be imparted to a collection of output fields from a collection of input fields, i.e., constraints on achievable optical transformations and the characteristics of structured materials as communication channels. Implications of these bounds on the performance of representative optical devices having multi-wavelength or multiport functionalities are examined in the context of electromagnetic shielding, focusing, near-field resolution, and linear computing.
Aperture based scanning near field optical microscopes are important instruments to study light at the nanoscale and to understand the optical functionality of photonic nanostructures. In general, a detected image is affected by both, the transverse electric and magnetic field components of light. The discrimination of the individual field components is challenging, as these four field components are contained within two signals in the case of a polarization-resolved measurement. Here, we develop a methodology to solve the inverse imaging problem and to retrieve the vectorial field components from polarization- and phase-resolved measurements. Our methodology relies on the discussion of the image formation process in aperture based scanning near field optical microscopes. On this basis, we are also able to explain how the relative contributions of the electric and magnetic field components within detected images depend on the probe geometry, its material composition, and the illumination wavelength. This allows to design probes that are dominantly sensitive either to the electric or magnetic field components of light.
The present status of the coupled-channel inverse-scattering method with supersymmetric transformations is reviewed. We first revisit in a pedagogical way the single-channel case, where the supersymmetric approach is shown to provide a complete solution to the inverse-scattering problem. A special emphasis is put on the differences between conservative and non-conservative transformations. In particular, we show that for the zero initial potential, a non-conservative transformation is always equivalent to a pair of conservative transformations. These single-channel results are illustrated on the inversion of the neutron-proton triplet eigenphase shifts for the S and D waves. We then summarize and extend our previous works on the coupled-channel case and stress remaining difficulties and open questions. We mostly concentrate on two-channel examples to illustrate general principles while keeping mathematics as simple as possible. In particular, we discuss the difference between the equal-threshold and different-threshold problems. For equal thresholds, conservative transformations can provide non-diagonal Jost and scattering matrices. Iterations of such transformations are shown to lead to practical algorithms for inversion. A convenient technique where the mixing parameter is fitted independently of the eigenphases is developed with iterations of pairs of conjugate transformations and applied to the neutron-proton triplet S-D scattering matrix, for which exactly-solvable matrix potential models are constructed. For different thresholds, conservative transformations do not seem to be able to provide a non-trivial coupling between channels. In contrast, a single non-conservative transformation can generate coupled-channel potentials starting from the zero potential and is a promising first step towards a full solution to the coupled-channel inverse problem with threshold differences.
Modern reconstruction methods for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exploit the spatially varying sensitivity profiles of receive-coil arrays as additional source of information. This allows to reduce the number of time-consuming Fourier-encoding steps by undersampling. The receive sensitivities are a priori unknown and influenced by geometry and electric properties of the (moving) subject. For optimal results, they need to be estimated jointly with the image from the same undersampled measurement data. Formulated as an inverse problem, this leads to a bilinear reconstruction problem related to multi-channel blind deconvolution. In this work, we will discuss some recently developed approaches for the solution of this problem.
We present a comprehensive introduction to spacetime algebra that emphasizes its practicality and power as a tool for the study of electromagnetism. We carefully develop this natural (Clifford) algebra of the Minkowski spacetime geometry, with a particular focus on its intrinsic (and often overlooked) complex structure. Notably, the scalar imaginary that appears throughout the electromagnetic theory properly corresponds to the unit 4-volume of spacetime itself, and thus has physical meaning. The electric and magnetic fields are combined into a single complex and frame-independent bivector field, which generalizes the Riemann-Silberstein complex vector that has recently resurfaced in studies of the single photon wavefunction. The complex structure of spacetime also underpins the emergence of electromagnetic waves, circular polarizations, the normal variables for canonical quantization, the distinction between electric and magnetic charge, complex spinor representations of Lorentz transformations, and the dual (electric-magnetic field exchange) symmetry that produces helicity conservation in vacuum fields. This latter symmetry manifests as an arbitrary global phase of the complex field, motivating the use of a complex vector potential, along with an associated transverse and gauge-invariant bivector potential, as well as complex (bivector and scalar) Hertz potentials. Our detailed treatment aims to encourage the use of spacetime algebra as a readily available and mature extension to existing vector calculus and tensor methods that can greatly simplify the analysis of fundamentally relativistic objects like the electromagnetic field.