Search results for "Contrast"
showing 10 items of 1162 documents
The X-ray emission mechanism in the protostellar jet HH 154
2004
We study the mechanism causing the X-ray emission recently detected in protostellar jets, by performing a detailed modeling of the interaction between a supersonic jet originating from a young stellar object and the ambient medium, for various values of density contrast, ν, between the ambient density and the jet, and of Mach number, M; radiative losses and thermal conduction have been taken into account. Here we report a representative case which reproduces, without any ad hoc assumption, the characteristics of the X-ray emission recently observed in the protostellar jet HH 154. We find that the X-ray emission originates from a localized blob, consistent with observations, which moves with…
Nuclear magnetic resonance: The contrast imaging problem
2011
Starting as a tool for characterization of organic molecules, the use of NMR has spread to areas as diverse as pharmacology, medical diagnostics (medical resonance imaging) and structural biology. Recent advancements on the study of spin dynamics strongly suggest the efficiency of geometric control theory to analyze the optimal synthesis. This paper focuses on a new approach to the contrast imaging problem using tools from geometric optimal control. It concerns the study of an uncoupled two-spin system and the problem is to bring one spin to the origin of the Bloch ball while maximizing the modulus of the magnetization vector of the second spin. It can be stated as a Mayer-type optimal prob…
Human contrast sensitivity in coherent Maxwellian view: effect of coherent noise and comparison with speckle.
1997
Lasers have been used in vision for measuring the neural contrast sensitivity function (CSF) by forming interference fringes on the retina. We distinguish among three kinds of illumination with lasers: incoherent (without noise), Maxwellian or coherent (with coherent noise), and diffuse coherent (with speckle). The three have different characteristics and different CSF's. A coherent imaging system is designed to measure the CSF with fully coherent illumination. This is the CSF of the whole visual system, although it is measured with gratings imaged on the retina. It therefore differs from the neural CSF's measured by other authors with partially coherent illumination. However, the neural CS…
Monolithic focused reference beam x-ray holography
2013
Fourier transform holography is a highly efficient and robust imaging method, suitable for single-shot imaging at coherent X-ray sources. In its common implementation, the image contrast is limited by the reference signal generated by a small pinhole aperture. Increased pinhole diameters improve the signal, whereas the resolution is diminished. Here we report a new concept to decouple the spatial resolution from the image contrast by employing a Fresnel zone plate to provide the reference beam. Superimposed on-axis images of distinct foci are separated with a novel algorithm. Our method is insensitive to mechanical drift or vibrations and allows for long integration times common at low-flux…
Radiating and nonradiating behavior of hyperbolic-secant, raised-cosine, and Gaussian input light pulses in dispersion-managed fiber systems.
2005
We address the problem of optical light pulses, called dressed pulses, which do not match the stationary pulse profile of a dispersion-managed (DM) fiber system and we theoretically analyze the associated radiation. Comparing hyperbolic-secant, raised-cosine, and Gaussian pulse envelopes, we show that the general radiation figure is highly sensitive to the input pulse profile. As common general features for these pulse profiles, we find a rich variety of dynamical states that includes weak-, moderate-, and strong-radiation states, depending on the map strength of the DM fiber system. We demonstrate the existence of two intervals of map strengths where the emitted radiation is of considerabl…
Acousto-optical multiple interference switches
2007
The authors introduce an alternative approach for acousto-optical light control based on the interference of light propagating through several waveguides, each subjected to a periodic refractive index modulation induced by a surface acoustic wave. The feasibility of the concept is demonstrated by the realization of an optical switch for arbitrary time intervals with an on/off contrast ratio of 20.
Hydrodynamic modelling of ejecta shrapnel in the Vela supernova remnant
2013
Many supernova remnants (SNRs) are characterized by a knotty ejecta structure. The Vela SNR is an excellent example of remnant in which detached clumps of ejecta are visible as X-ray emitting bullets that have been observed and studied in great detail. We aim at modelling the evolution of ejecta shrapnel in the Vela SNR, investigating the role of their initial parameters (position and density) and addressing the effects of thermal conduction and radiative losses. We performed a set of 2-D hydrodynamic simulations describing the evolution of a density inhomogeneity in the ejecta profile. We explored different initial setups. We found that the final position of the shrapnel is very sensitive …
Dielectric versus topographic contrast in near-field microscopy
1996
Using a fully vectorial three-dimensional numerical approach (generalized field propagator, based on Green's tensor technique), we investigate the near-field images produced by subwavelength objects buried in a dielectric surface. We study the influence of the object index, size, and depth on the near field. We emphasize the similarity between the near field spawned by an object buried in the surface (dielectric contrast) and that spawned by a protrusion on the surface (topographic contrast). We show that a buried object with a negative dielectric contrast (i.e., with a smaller index than its surrounding medium) produces a near-field image that is reversed from that of an object with a posi…
Near-field optical contrasts in the Fresnel evanescent wave
1998
The surface waves generated by total internal reflection at the surface of a transparent material may be viewed as quasi-two-dimensional, because they decay exponentially in the direction normal to the sample surface. These waves are appropriate to analyze polarization effects associated with light confinement phenomena in near-field optics. In this paper we derive four useful analytical relations governing the near-field contrast around dielectric nanometer-sized particles versus a limited number of external parameters. In the $p$-polarized mode, unlike to what happens with the electric near field, we show that the magnitude of the magnetic near-field contrast can be adjusted by increasing…
Contact lenses: do they really change the opticalperformance?
1996
Abstract In this investigation the quality of two types of optical correction, hydrogel contact lenses and ophthalmic lenses, wascompared by measuring the modulation transferfunction (MTF) of the correcting lens plus visual optics system using an objective method. A merit function was defined in order to allow the direct comparison between the optical performance with the two corrections. A study on 10 subjects was undertaken, measuring the MTF of both corrections by using the double pass method. The results show that the optical quality of contact lenses was higher than that with ophthalmic lenses. The contrast sensitivity function (CSF) and visual acuity (VA) were determined as subjective…