Using Free-form dual-comb spectroscopy(DCS) for compressive sensing and imaging

Free-form DCS allows control of the timing between the light pulses from two lasers and compressive sensing factor up to 155. It provides  better resolution, less background noise, or faster data collection, reducing acquisition time.

Here Comb is a special kind of laser that emits light at many equally spaced frequencies. 


Traditional DCS Sampling is a method where the sampling occurs at evenly spaced time intervals. Free-form DCS provides control over the temporal offset between pulses, which allows user-selected sampling. 

The Compressive Sensing method uses random, non-uniform sampling to capture the important parts of the signal, drastically reducing the number of measurements needed.

The dots indicate the Relative pulse delay compared to the time-domain response of a molecular gas (black trace, bottom)

Relative pulse delay time (T_RPD) is the difference in time between when two pulses of light (from two separate laser "combs") arrive at a detector in dual-comb spectroscopy (DCS).

When gas like Methane absorbs light, it creates a specific pattern in the signal, which repeats at regular intervals (called "recurrences").

Instead of measuring everything, recurrence sampling skips the unnecessary parts and only looks at these important repeating signals.

Ax=b

A = ΦΨ

b is Vector with k elements- sparse signal (signal where only a few frequencies are present.)Φ is matrix ; Ψ is matrix, DFT basis here., A is k x n  matrix; A = ΦΨ Sensing matrix

Heterodyne signal in dual-comb spectroscopy is the result of two laser light sources (called frequency combs) interfering with each other. This creates a new signal that shifts the high-frequency information to a much lower frequency which is easier to measure and analyze. 

Figure a shows an image of the methane gas plume, captured by the system using recurrence sampling. Each pixel in the image represents the methane concentration detected at that location.

The light passes through the gas plume, interacts with methane molecules, and reflects back to the camera. The methane absorption pattern creates a signal that can be detected at specific recurrence times.

The Power Spectral Density (PSD) is used to analyze the noise levels in the system. PSD measures how the power of the signal is distributed across different frequencies and helps to identify noise sources that could affect the measurement.

For each pixel, the time-domain signal is converted to the frequency domain using the Fourier transform. This allows the analysis of how the signal's power is distributed over different frequencies.

The Fourier transform of the time-domain signal gives the spectrum of the signal, which shows both the useful methane signal and any noise present.

PSD(f) is the power spectral density at frequency f.

V(f) is the Fourier transform of the time-domain signal V(t)

Δf  is the bandwidth over which the PSD is calculated.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/371495210_Free-form_dual-comb_spectroscopy_for_compressive_sensing_and_imaging

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectral_density

Use of Multi-focus laser sculpting for microstructured glass

 

Multi-focus laser sculpting is a technique used to shape materials using a laser beam. Instead of focusing on just one point, the laser is split into multiple focal points, so it can focus on several areas at the same time, making the process faster and more efficient.


Here, the Gaussian beam is manipulated using optical components Fresnel lenses and blaze gratings to create multiple laser spots.

For a Gaussian beam, the intensity is highest at the center (the beam's axis) and decreases as you move away from the center.


Gratings are made up of a microscopic, repeating structure of grooves. When light hits the grating, the structure causes the light to split into multiple beams that travel in different directions. 


A blaze grating is a type of diffraction grating that is designed to direct most of the light energy into a specific diffraction order, It enhances the brightness of wavelength or direction. 

Fresnel lenses consist of a series of concentric grooves.

.


The equation for calculating the laser spot position, considering the refractive index of the glass, is given by:

zj is the target coordinate.

Equation for Correction of Blaze Grating and Fresnel Lens Deviations

where m is x or y denoting sectional displacement, zj is the z-direction displacement, the λ is the wavelength fOB is the focal length of objective, and pj is the period of blaze grating.


 f0 is the focal length of Fresnel lens for light modulation.


Low surface roughness is important for great application performance, which can be achieved by improving laser spot intensity uniformity and especially decreasing the point-to-point distance.

The energy at each laser point is adjusted by modifying the transmission function of the light as follows:

T is the transmission function for the light modulation( Light modulation is the process of controlling the intensity of light, or changing its wave features, such as its frequency, polarization, phase, or intensity)

A is the amplitude constant, j is the point number, ϕ is the phase forming the phase diagram for light modulation, Ij is normalized energy adjustment coefficient for each point,

px,j and py,j are the blaze grating period .Multi focus laser is used for precisely shaping glass microstructures and in fiber packaging devices.


Reference

https://www.oejournal.org//article/doi/10.29026/oea.2025.240082

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blazed_grating


Magnetic helium-rich hot subdwarfs star found with Southern African Large Telescope

 

Here the magnetic field was detected 200kG which is detected based on the zeeman effect. 

Zeeman effect: In zeeman effect, magnetic field distorts electron orbitals, which affects atomic energy levels and the transitions between them. This results in the splitting of atomic energy levels in a molecule, which in turn splits the spectral lines.

The splitting of a spectral line in the presence of a magnetic field is given by

Surface gravity is given by

Effective temperature is calculated based on 

The radial velocity is calculated using the Doppler effect equation:

Δλ = observed wavelength shift .

λ0 = rest wavelength of the spectral line


Galactic space velocities for the confirmed magnetic He-sdOs are calculated from their radial velocity.

Magnetic fields can cause dark or bright spots on a star’s surface, resulting in variations in brightness as the star rotates



Here the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram is used to compare the magnetic He-sdO stars with non-magnetic hot subdwarfs and other stars based on their temperature, luminosity, and mass.  


In the article, the mass of the magnetic He-sdO stars is estimated based on their location relative to the helium main sequence. The mass is interpolated from their position on the diagram.

When stars plot the same region of the H-R diagram, it indicates that they likely formed through a specific and same process.



Reference: https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.02737 


The topological aberrations of twisted light

 

  • Topology describes the study of properties of spaces that are invariant under any continuous deformation.

  • Topological aberration: It contains a high-order optical vortex which experiences not only geometrical shifts, but an additional splitting of its high-order vortex into a constellation of unit-charge vortices.

  • Multiple optical vortices indicate  the presence of more than one optical vortex in a light beam. Each optical vortex is a point or region where the intensity of light is zero, and the phase of the light waves spirals around this point, creating a "twisted" or helical wavefront. These beams are characterized by their helical wavefronts.

  • Goos-Hänchen (GH) Shift: The GH shift is a lateral displacement of a reflected light beam along the plane of incidence. Instead of reflecting exactly along the predicted path, the beam's central position shifts slightly parallel to the interface. GH shift arises from changes in the reflection coefficient of the interface, which vary with the incidence angle. These changes affect the beam's overall phase, leading to a shift.

  • ΔGH​ is the lateral shift (Goos-Hänchen shift), λ is the wavelength of the light. ϕr​ is the phase of the reflection coefficient, θi​ is the angle of incidence.

  • Imbert-Fedorov (IF) Shift : It is a transverse displacement of a reflected  beam that occurs perpendicular to the plane of incidence.

  • In the context of vortex constellations, the coordinates of the vortices can be represented as complex numbers. The authors use Elementary Symmetric Polynomials(ESP)  to summarize these coordinates and understand how they change under reflection.

  • vectors eI and eR contain the ESPs of the input and aberrated constellations, respectively.

  • Wirtinger Derivative: It helps how a complex function (or light beam) changes, especially when dealing with distortions or shifts in the beam's structure.

  • Above equations applying for this experiment,

  • R’ and R” are first and second Wirtinger derivatives of R(χ) at χ = χ* = 0.

  • Aberrations usually change the elementary symmetric polynomials (ESP), which describe the positions of the vortices in a group (constellation). From these changes, we can directly figure out the angular Wirtinger derivatives related to the aberration.




https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10305470/

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-52529-6


Mercury’s plasma environment and BepiColombo spacecraft's third flyby of Mercury


The instruments designed to measure ions in Mercury’s plasma environment are: 

Mass Spectrum Analyzer (MSA), Mass Ion Analyzer (MIA), and Mass Electron Analyzer (MEA).


  • Mass Spectrum Analyzer: This instrument has a spherical top-hat analyzer for energy analysis and a Time-Of-Flight (TOF) chamber for mass analysis.
  • For ions passing through the top-hat analyzer, the energy-to-charge ratio is:


  • This energy allows the MSA to filter ions with specific energies before they enter the Time Of Flight chamber. TOF analyzer measures the time t it takes for ions to travel a fixed distance d after they pass through the top-hat analyzer. From the TOF data, the ion’s velocity can be calculated. Then the mass-to-charge ratio m/q is calculated.


  • The MSA uses a reflectron TOF system, which improves the mass resolution by reflecting ions back and forth within the TOF analyzer. If there are small differences in ion velocities, more accurate m/q can be measured.

Differential Directional Energy Flux (DDEF) of the ions and electrons is measured by MSA, MIA and MEA.

  • N is the number of particles,
  • E is the particle energy,
  • A is the detector area,
  • T is time, Ω is the solid angle,
  • Θ and ϕ represent the direction of travel of the particles in spherical coordinates.


Magnetospheric regions and ion composition:

  • The low latitude boundary layer(LLBL) is a region where magnetosheath and magnetospheric plasmas are mixed along the magnetospheric side of the low-latitude. There is presence of an energy dispersion( how particles with different energies spread out as they travel through a magnetic field of the ions). This dispersion extends from ~20 keV e−1 in the outer part of the flank down to 10s of eVs per e in the inner part.
  • Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability occurs at the interface between two plasma flows with different velocities, such as between the solar wind (a stream of charged particles from the Sun) and a planetary magnetosphere or at the boundary of different plasma regions.
  • In study, H+  trajectories were computed using a modified Luhmann–Friesen model for the magnetic field combined with convection pattern for the electric field. The full equation of motion was integrated  using a fourth-order Runge–Kutta technique.
  • The plasmas sheet horns: In this region, there is presence of ~1 keV e−1 ions in the near-tail central plasma sheet extending to the higher latitudes.
  • The flyby provided direct evidence of Mercury’s ring current. It is a circulating flow of charged particles around the planet, having energetic hydrogen ions (H⁺) and heavier ions like oxygen (O⁺)
  • The ion observations highlight the presence of cold ions (≤50 eV e−1 ) and energetic ions (up to 38 keV e−1 ) in the environment. Energetic electrons up to 10 keV e−1 were also observed in the deep magnetosphere. 


https://www.nature.com/articles/s42005-024-01766-8


Method to detect and analyze CO2 and H2O2 on Charon’s(pluto’s moon) surface using the James Webb Space Telescope

 

Researchers used data reduction which includes steps:

Extracting Charon’s spectrum: The Point Spread Function (PSF) is used to describe how a point source of light (such as a star) is spread across an imaging system, such as a telescope and its detector. It is used for image resolution and sharpness. PSF technique yields a significantly enhanced signal-to-noise ratio

x,y are the spatial coordinates.

σ is the standard deviation of the Gaussian, related to the width of the blur.


r is the radial distance. 

α, β are seeing dependent parameters

 

Correction of  flux contamination: The minor blending has been observed of the fluxes from two binary components charon and pluto. Here Charon is on a diffraction spike of Pluto’s PSF.


Flux loss correction: Scientists used Near-Infrared Spectroscopy observations of the G2V-type solar standard star. They used cubic polynomial curves.Then flux is converted to radiance factor I/F.


BY studying spectral modeling of the surface, scientists showed that CO2 is present in pure crystalline form

Hapke Radiative Transfer Theory is used to describe how light scatters, reflects, and absorbs when it hits the surface of a planet, moon, or asteroid. The theory is used for analyzing observations of surfaces covered with ice or dust.


Reference:

Temporal signal processing method for nonlocal optical metasurfaces


The temporal signal: Temporal signal varies with time. It is used to identify patterns, or changes in audio signals, video frames, or sensor readings. In optics, it is used for shaping, filtering, or differentiating light signals to data transmission or image processing.

The metasurface is very thin material that can manipulate electromagnetic waves in ways that normal materials can't. At the nanoscale, metasurfaces can change how light bends and focuses.

Nonlocal metasurface: It manipulates light in ways that depend on the light's current position and where the light has been before. It  detects changes over time in a light signal. study shows that they can efficiently perform operations like first-order differentiation of signals.


Here metasurfaces material is TiO2-coated glass substrates is used. The Fourier transform of an input signal is calculated then multiplying it by the metasurface transfer function calculated and then applying the inverse Fourier transform.

The transfer function tω dictates how the metasurfaces affect different frequency components of the impinging pulse. 

 

is represented in Fourier space by the multiplicative operation (below)


where s(w) is the Fourier transform of s(t). 

metasurface with a transfer function



signal Sin(t) ( a square pulse) is encoded in the envelope of an electromagnetic wave impinging on a metasurface. The envelope of the transmitted wave is the first-order derivative of the input pulse.

Assuming  electric field pulse created by the pulse shaper is given by the sum of two gaussian pulses,

CCT Cross-Correlation Trace : CCT helps determine how the output signal produced by the metasurface correlates with the input signal. By comparing these signals, researchers can evaluate how effectively the metasurface performs differentiation.


CCT of the input field


CCT of output field

 



Reference: https://www.nature.com/articles/s44310-024-00039-0: