Fundamental Limits on Subwavelength Range Resolution

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jordan, Andrew N., Howell, John C.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866914818331508736
author Jordan, Andrew N.
Howell, John C.
author_facet Jordan, Andrew N.
Howell, John C.
contents We establish fundamental bounds on subwavelength resolution for the radar ranging problem, ``super radar''. Information theoretical metrics are applied to probe the resolution limits for the case of both direct electric field measurement and photon-counting measurements. To establish fundamental limits, we begin with the simplest case of range resolution of two point targets from a metrology perspective. These information-based metrics establish fundamental bounds on both the minimal discrimination distance of two targets as well as the precision on the separation of two subwavelength resolved targets. For the minimal separation distance, both the direct field method and photon counting method show that the discriminability vanishes quadratically as the target separation goes to zero, and is proportional to the variance of the second derivative of the electromagnetic field profile. Nevertheless, robust subwavelength estimation is possible. Several different band-limited function classes are introduced to optimize discrimination. We discuss the application of maximum likelihood estimation to improve the range precision with optimal performance. The general theory of multi-parameter estimation is analyzed, and a simple example of estimating both the separation and relative strength of the two point reflectors is presented.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2308_06252
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Fundamental Limits on Subwavelength Range Resolution
Jordan, Andrew N.
Howell, John C.
Optics
Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability
Quantum Physics
We establish fundamental bounds on subwavelength resolution for the radar ranging problem, ``super radar''. Information theoretical metrics are applied to probe the resolution limits for the case of both direct electric field measurement and photon-counting measurements. To establish fundamental limits, we begin with the simplest case of range resolution of two point targets from a metrology perspective. These information-based metrics establish fundamental bounds on both the minimal discrimination distance of two targets as well as the precision on the separation of two subwavelength resolved targets. For the minimal separation distance, both the direct field method and photon counting method show that the discriminability vanishes quadratically as the target separation goes to zero, and is proportional to the variance of the second derivative of the electromagnetic field profile. Nevertheless, robust subwavelength estimation is possible. Several different band-limited function classes are introduced to optimize discrimination. We discuss the application of maximum likelihood estimation to improve the range precision with optimal performance. The general theory of multi-parameter estimation is analyzed, and a simple example of estimating both the separation and relative strength of the two point reflectors is presented.
title Fundamental Limits on Subwavelength Range Resolution
topic Optics
Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability
Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2308.06252