Abstract
The detection of incoherent objects, light from which is received in the presence of a spatially and temporally white background, is treated by signal detection theory. For a given total energy received from the object, the detectability decreases with a decrease of the degree of coherence, at the aperture of the optical system, of the light from the object. Resolution of two identical objects depends on deciding whether two are present in the field of view or only one, and their resolvability is measured by the probability of making this decision correctly. Its dependence on the area of the aperture and the size and separation of the objects is worked out. A conceptual scheme for realizing optimum detection is presented. Cramér–Rao bounds are given for the variances of unbiased estimates of object parameters such as radiance and position.
© 1969 Optical Society of America
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Carl W. Helstrom
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