Optical Interferometry Continuation of Cavendish Astrophysics Rolling Grant

哈勃太空望远镜的成功及其继任者詹姆斯·韦伯太空望远镜（James Webb Space Telescope）的动力，在很大程度上是由对分辨率比地面望远镜高一个数量级的图像的渴望所驱动的。然而，即使这样也可能不足以理解许多重要天体物理现象背后的物理学，在许多情况下，需要比这些旗舰任务高10-100倍的分辨率。这种毫角秒和亚毫角秒的分辨率只能通过光学/红外干涉仪来实现，这些干涉仪使用较小的望远镜阵列合成有效的望远镜直径为100米。Magdalena Ridge天文台干涉仪（MROI）是一种光学/红外成像干涉仪，目前正在新墨西哥州由新墨西哥理工大学（NMT）和剑桥卡文迪什实验室合作建设。它的第一阶段实施将结合6台1.4米望远镜的光，相距350米，允许近红外成像，角分辨率为0.7毫弧秒，即比衍射受限的30米级望远镜好10倍。MROI建立在其他干涉仪的成功基础上，如佐治亚州立大学的CHARA阵列，凯克干涉仪和VLTI，这些干涉仪现在经常用于解决重要的天体物理问题，并且已经证明了干涉测量对于不是干涉测量专家的天文学家来说是一个有价值的工具。通过优化其对微弱天体物理目标成像的设计，MROI预计将具有比迄今为止任何光学/红外干涉仪高10-100倍的极限灵敏度。MROI具有独特的能力，能够以超高分辨率、高效、高灵敏度提供与模型无关的图像，这为新科学提供了最令人兴奋的潜力。这项研究的范围将非常广泛。第一代红外阵列的研究涵盖了恒星的基本参数估计、演化巨星的分子包层、新星喷出物的几何扩展和演化以及AGN核心结构等多种主题。所有这些都将在MROI上实现，尽管比VLTI和类似的当代阵列具有更高的效率、灵敏度和完整性。MROI是NMT和卡文迪什实验室的联合活动。NMT将提供大部分资金，而卡文迪什的研究人员——他们是光学/红外波长干涉测量的先驱——将提供技术领导和阵列部署的监督。拟议的研究反映了这种伙伴关系，并将涉及卡文迪什的工作人员完成与MROI调试相关的三个关键任务。这些将是：*第一光仪器的实时控制算法的开发和交付，条纹跟踪光束组合器。这里的目标将是提供必要的关键算法，以高精度检测和跟踪最微弱的光源上的条纹。* MROI首光数据约简流水线的设计与编码。该软件将用于生产诊断措施，对优化干涉仪的性能至关重要，并从MROI中产生第一个科学结果。*领导技术和科学调试工作，以交付具有MROI的第一个边缘。这项活动将由卡文迪什的两名高级工作人员领导，他们在许多其他干涉测量阵列的校准、集成和调试方面具有丰富的经验。这些活动将对阵列的完成做出重大贡献，并使英国在利用其运行所产生的科学方面处于领先地位。

The success of the Hubble Space Telescope and the motivation for its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, have been largely driven by the desire for images with resolutions an order of magnitude better than routinely achieved by ground-based telescopes. However, even this may be inadequate for understanding the physics underlying many important astrophysical phenomena and in many cases resolutions 10-100 times better than these flagship missions are required. Such milli- and sub-milli-arcsecond resolutions can only be delivered by optical/infrared interferometers which synthesize effective telescope diameters of 100s of meters using arrays of smaller telescopes. The Magdalena Ridge Observatory Interferometer (MROI) is an optical/IR imaging interferometer currently under construction in New Mexico in a partnership between New Mexico Tech (NMT) and the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge. Its Phase 1 implementation will combine light from six 1.4 m telescopes, separated by up to 350m, to permit imaging in the near-infrared with an angular resolution of 0.7 milli-arcseconds, i.e. 10 times better than a diffraction-limited 30 m-class telescope. The MROI builds on the success of other interferometers such as Georgia State's CHARA Array, the Keck Interferometer and the VLTI, which are now routinely used to tackle important astrophysical questions and which have demonstrated that interferometry can be a valuable tool for astronomers who are not interferometric specialists. By optimizing its design for the imaging of faint astrophysical targets, the MROI is expected to have a limiting sensitivity 10-100 times greater than has been realized by any optical/IR interferometer to date. It is the MROI's unique capability to deliver model-independent images at ultra-high resolution, efficiently, and at much higher sensitivity than has been previously realised that offers the most exciting potential for new science. The scope of this research will be very broad. Studies with first-generation IR-arrays have spanned topics as diverse as fundamental parameter estimation of stars, the molecular envelopes of evolved giants, the geometrical extension and evolution of novae ejecta, and the structure of AGN cores. All of these will be accessible at the MROI, though with much higher efficiency, sensitivity and completeness than has hitherto been available with the VLTI and similar current-generation arrays. The MROI is a joint activity of NMT and the Cavendish Laboratory. NMT are providing the majority of the capital funds, while Cavendish researchers - who pioneered interferometry at optical/IR wavelengths - are providing technical leadership and oversight of the array deployment. The proposed research reflects this partnership and will involve staff at the Cavendish completing three key tasks related to the commissioning of the MROI. These will be: * The development and delivery of the real-time control algorithms for the first-light instrument, a fringe tracking beam combiner. Here the goals will be to deliver the critical algorithms necessary to detect and track fringes on the faintest sources with high precision. * The design and coding of the first-light data reduction pipeline for the MROI. This software will be used to produce diagnostic measures critical for optimising the performance of the interferometer as well as producing the first science results from the MROI. * To lead the technical and scientific commissioning effort to deliver first fringes with the MROI. This activity will be led by two of the senior staff at the Cavendish who have had considerable experience of the alignment, integration and commissioning of a number of other interferometric arrays. These activities will form a significant contribution towards the completion of the array and put the UK in a leading position to exploit the science which will result from its operation.