PREDICTIVE OPTIMAL ESTIMATORS FOR ADAPTIVE-OPTICS SYSTEMS

A new class of optimal wave-front estimators for adaptive-optics syste ms that minimize time-delay errors that are due to atmospheric winds i s developed. These matrices utilize the past time history of the servo system by means of temporal Kolmogorov cross-covariance matrices. Exc ept in the simplest case, a nonlinear matrix equation must be iterativ ely solved. Strehl ratio performance for selected estimators is given. (C) 1996 Optical Society of America