Optical Intensity Interferometry through Atmospheric Turbulence

Abstract

Conventional ground-based astronomical observations suffer from image distortion due to atmospheric turbulence. This can be minimized by choosing suitable geographic locations or adaptive optical techniques, and avoided altogether by using orbital platforms outside the atmosphere. One of the promises of optical intensity interferometry is its independence from atmospherically induced phase fluctuations. By performing narrowband spectral filtering on sunlight and conducting temporal intensity interferometry using actively quenched avalanche photon detectors (APDs), the Solar $g^{(2)}(\tau )$ signature was directly measured. We observe an averaged photon bunching signal of $g^{(2)}(\tau )=1.693\pm 0.003$ from the Sun, consistently throughout the day despite fluctuating weather conditions, cloud cover and elevation angle. This demonstrates the robustness of the intensity interferometry technique against atmospheric turbulence and opto-mechanical instabilities, and the feasibility to implement measurement schemes with both large baselines and long integration times.

5 pages, 6 figures

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Cited by in corpus (17)

• Demonstration of stellar intensity interferometry with the four VERITAS telescopes
• Temporal intensity interferometry: photon bunching on three bright stars
• Spatial intensity interferometry on three bright stars
• A quantitative comparison of amplitude versus intensity interferometry for astronomy
• Characterization of very narrow spectral lines with temporal intensity interferometry
• Intensity interferometry: Optical imaging with kilometer baselines
• Optical long baseline intensity interferometry: prospects for stellar physics
• Stellar intensity interferometry of Vega in photon counting mode
• Intensity interferometry-based 3D imaging
• Development of a Digital Astronomical Intensity Interferometer: laboratory tests with thermal light
• Practical Quantum Sensing with Thermal Light
• Investigating the accuracy achievable in reconstructing the angular sizes of stars through stellar intensity interferometry observations
• A wide-range wavelength-tunable photon-pair source for characterizing single-photon detectors
• Generation of N00N-like interferences with two thermal light sources
• Microlensing masses via photon bunching
• Sirius: A Prototype Astronomical Intensity Interferometer Using Avalanche Photodiodes in Linear Mode
• Distinguishing thermal and pseudothermal light by testing the Siegert relation