Interferometers and Aperture Synthesis

Abstract

In one dimension, one can make a simple interferometer from a paraboloid by masking off all of the reflecting surface except for two regions of dimension a, which are separated by a length b, where b >> a. Assume that the power incident on these two regions is reflected without loss, then coherently received at the prime focus. A receiver there amplifies and square law detects these signals. This system is used to measure the response of an isolated source.