A New Standard for Assessing the Performance of High Contrast Imaging Systems

Abstract

As planning for the next generation of high contrast imaging instruments (e.g. WFIRST, HabEx, and LUVOIR, TMT-PFI, EELT-EPICS) matures, and second-generation ground-based extreme adaptive optics facilities (e.g. VLT-SPHERE, Gemini-GPI) are halfway through their principal surveys, it is imperative that the performance of different designs, post-processing algorithms, observing strategies, and survey results be compared in a consistent, statistically robust framework. In this paper, we argue that the current industry standard for such comparisons -- the contrast curve -- falls short of this mandate. We propose a new figure of merit, the "performance map," that incorporates three fundamental concepts in signal detection theory: the true positive fraction (TPF), false positive fraction (FPF), and detection threshold. By supplying a theoretical basis and recipe for generating the performance map, we hope to encourage the widespread adoption of this new metric across subfields in exoplanet imaging.

11 pages, 8 figures, accepted to AJ

References in corpus (10)

• Direct Imaging of Multiple Planets Orbiting the Star HR 8799
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• VIP: Vortex Image Processing package for high-contrast direct imaging
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Cited by in corpus (19)

• Separating extended disc features from the protoplanet in PDS 70 using VLT/SINFONI
• Direct imaging of sub-Jupiter mass exoplanets with James Webb Space Telescope coronagraphy
• Determining mass limits around HD163296 through SPHERE direct imaging data
• The search for disks or planetary objects around directly imaged companions: A candidate around DH Tau B
• ISPY-NACO Imaging Survey for Planets around Young stars. The demographics of forming planets embedded in protoplanetary disks
• The vector-apodizing phase plate coronagraph: design, current performance, and future development
• RefPlanets: Search for reflected light from extra-solar planets with SPHERE/ZIMPOL
• Comparing Apples with Apples: Robust Detection Limits for Exoplanet High-Contrast Imaging in the Presence of non-Gaussian Noise
• High-contrast observations of brown dwarf companion HR 2562 B with the vector Apodizing Phase Plate coronagraph
• Half-sibling regression meets exoplanet imaging: PSF modeling and subtraction using a flexible, domain knowledge-driven, causal framework
• Machine Learning for Exoplanet Detection in High-Contrast Spectroscopy: Revealing Exoplanets by Leveraging Hidden Molecular Signatures in Cross-Correlated Spectra with Convolutional Neural Networks
• Spectral unmixing for exoplanet direct detection in hyperspectral data
• Use the 4S (Signal-Safe Speckle Subtraction): Explainable Machine Learning reveals the Giant Exoplanet AF Lep b in High-Contrast Imaging Data from 2011
• First on-sky demonstration of spatial Linear Dark Field Control with the vector-Apodizing Phase Plate at Subaru/SCExAO
• NA-SODINN: a deep learning algorithm for exoplanet image detection based on residual noise regimes
• Auto-RSM: an automated parameter-selection algorithm for the RSM map exoplanet detection algorithm
• High contrast imaging with Fizeau interferometry: The case of Altair
• Improving the RSM map exoplanet detection algorithm: PSF forward modelling and optimal selection of PSF subtraction techniques
• Coronagraphic Data Post-processing Using Projections on Instrumental Modes