Theoretical development and practical applications of Virtually Referenced Interferometers

由于晶体管是我们今天所使用的无数电子设备中的基本组件，因此干涉仪是光子(基于光的)设备的关键。传统干涉仪的工作方式的问题是它们依赖昂贵的光学机械部件。这项研究引入了干涉仪技术的范式转变，使这些光学机械部件能够用基于软件的算法来取代。这项新技术非常强大，因为它可以应用于任何干涉仪配置。 虽然这项技术的性能优势是更高的精度、稳定性和速度，但这项技术允许干涉仪用于便携式应用，并通过用计算机硬件和软件取代昂贵的光学机械来利用电子行业的规模经济。由于干涉仪是光学系统中的基本部件(就像电子系统中的晶体管一样)，这项技术将具有深远的好处，并在不久的将来实现新的应用。为了展示这些好处，将在对完整理论进行彻底的分析开发后，开发传感、测试和成像应用中的系统原型。

As the transistor is a basic component in the myriad of electronic devices we enjoy today, the interferometer is key to photonic (light based) devices. The problem with the way that conventional interferometers work is that they rely on expensive opto-mechanical parts. This research introduces a paradigm shift in interferometer technology that enables the replacement of these opto-mechanical parts with software based algorithms. This new technology is powerful since it can be applied to any interferometer configuration. While the performance benefits of this technology are higher accuracy, stability and speed this technology allows interferometers to be used in portable applications and leverages the economies of scale available in the electronics industry by replacing expensive opto-mechanics with computer hardware and software. Since interferometers are basic components in optical systems (like the transistor is in electronic systems) this technology will have far reaching benefits and enable new applications in the near future. To demonstrate these benefits, prototypes for systems in sensing, testing and imaging applications will be developed after a thorough analytical development of the complete theory.