Optical amplification for astronomical imaging at higher resolution

Abstract

Heisenberg's uncertainty principle tells us that it is impossible to determine simultaneously the position of a photon crossing a telescope's aperture and its momentum. Super-resolution imaging techniques rely on modification of the observed sample, or on entangling photons. In astronomy we have no access to the object, but resolution may be improved by optical amplification. Unfortunately, spontaneous emission contributes noise and negates the possible gain from stimulated emissions. We show that it is possible to increase the weight of the stimulated photons by considering photon statistics, and observe an improvement in resolution. Most importantly, we demonstrate a method which can apply for all imaging purposes.