Adaptive Optics for Exoplanets: Algorithms and Technologies

At its heart, an adaptive optics (AO) system uses images from its detector
to calculate the best surface height of its deformable mirror.
The challenge of directly imaging exoplanets from the ground has necessitated
the development of advanced image and signal processing techniques
for AO systems. We discuss the role of these algorithms in
the science-driven AO system design. We present the
fundamental algorithmic steps and show on-sky validations of
several new techniques, which include the spatially filtered
wavefront sensor to remove aliasing,
reconstruction of the wavefront with Fourier transforms,
and linear-quadratic-gaussian control.