Related papers: Optimal birefringence distributions for star test …
Einstein Telescope (ET) is expected to achieve sensitivity improvements exceeding an order of magnitude compared to current gravitational-wave detectors. The rigorous characterization in optical birefringence of materials and coatings has…
Context: in astronomy, observing large fractions of the sky within a reasonable amount of time implies using large field-of-view (fov) optical instruments that typically have a spatially varying Point Spread Function (PSF). Depending on the…
Stellar spectropolarimetry is a relatively new remote sensing tool for exploring stellar atmospheres and circumstellar environments. We present the results of our HiVIS survey and a multi-wavelength ESPaDOnS follow-up campaign showing…
A point spread function (PSF) describes the distribution of light for a pure point source in an astronomical image due to the optics of the instrument. An accurate PSF is key for deconvolution, point source photometry and source removal.…
An easily constructed and operated polarimeter precisely determines the relative Stokes parameters that characterize the polarization of laser light. The polarimeter is calibrated in situ without removing or realigning its optical elements,…
Developing an efficient and robust polarimeter for wide spectral ranges and space applications is a main issue in many projects. As part of the UVMag consortium created to develop UV facilities in space (e.g. the Arago mission proposed to…
This work presents a simple alternative technique to observe the polarization of the skylight on Earth. Using a birefringent material and a polarizer to look at the polarized light from the blue sky, it is possible to see a colored pattern…
Details concerning the design, fabrication and performance of STAR Photon Multiplicity Detector (PMD) are presented. The PMD will cover the forward region, within the pseudorapidity range 2.3--3.5, behind the forward time projection…
We review in brief the development and implementation of the Star integral, a tool yielding measurements of correlations much superior to conventional methods. A version for use in pion interferometry is explained. We also show how effects…
Polarization is a degree of freedom of light carrying important information that is usually absent in intensity and spectral content. Imaging polarimetry is the process of determining the polarization state of light, either partially or…
Polarimetry is widely considered a powerful observational technique in X-ray astronomy, useful to enhance our understanding of the emission mechanisms, geometry and magnetic field arrangement of many compact objects. However, the lack of…
We present an in-situ method to measure the birefringence of a single vacuum window by means of microwave spectroscopy on an ensemble of cold atoms. Stress-induced birefringence can cause an ellipticity in the polarization of an initially…
We present a technique for studying the polarimetric properties of a birefringent object by means of classical ghost diffraction. The standard ghost diffraction setup is modified to include polarizers for controlling the state of…
The quaternion Bingham distribution has been used to model preferred crystallographic orientation, or crystallographic texture, in polycrystalline materials in the materials science and geological communities. A primary difficulty in…
We propose a very simple method for measuring the zero-dispersion wavelength of an optical fiber as well as the ratio between the third- and fourth-order dispersion terms. The method is based on the four wave mixing process when pumping the…
Improving the sensitivity of gravitational wave detectors is necessary to enrich scientific outcome of gravitational wave astronomy. Birefringence in test mass mirrors of gravitational wave detectors can become an important factor for both…
X-ray polarimetry of solar flares is still a not well established field of observation of our star. Past polarimeters were not able to measure with a high significance the polarization in X-rays from solar flares. Moreover, they had no…
In astronomy there are basically four kinds of observations to extract the information carried by electromagnetic radiation: photometry, imaging, spectroscopy and polarimetry. By optimal exploitation of the first three techniques, X-ray…
Accurate astrometry and photometry of saturated and coronagraphic point spread functions (PSFs) are fundamental to both ground- and space-based high contrast imaging projects. For ground-based adaptive optics imaging, differential…
We designed and built a new astronomical photo-polarimeter that can measure linear polarization simultaneously in three spectral bands. It has a Calcite beamdisplacement prism as the analyzer. The ordinary and extra-ordinary emerging beams…