Michael Hart

Interests

Research

The principal focus of Hart's research is the development of techniques for high resolution and high contrast imaging from optical systems looking through random media. The inspiration has been the improvement with adaptive optics of astronomical images recorded through large ground-based telescopes, but his work, particularly in recent years, has expanded to address non-astronomical applications. Approaches include the methods of adaptive optics, in which image distortions are removed before the light is detected, as well as numerical post-processing techniques in which the blurring is reduced after detection in a computer.Additional research focuses on sensor-agnostic algorithms for automatic target segmentation, recognition, and pose estimation from video, LIDAR, and radar sensors.

Teaching

There is a shortage of young professionals in the US trained in high resolution imaging methods: both the theory and practice. Since the market for such skills will continue to expand over the next decade, it is important that the need be addressed with courses designed to prepare both upper-level undergraduate and graduate students for careers requiring a detailed understanding of the necessary technologies. Hart co-instructs a course, OSC/ASTR 428/528, Adaptive optics and imaging through random media. In the longer term, this will be expanded to a pair of courses to be taken either separately or collectively as a mini-emphasis within the Image Science specialty of the College of Optical Science.

Courses

Scholarly Contributions

Journals/Publications

• Kaneda, Y., Hart, M., Penttinen, J., & Guina, M. (2019). Narrow-linewidth operation of folded 1178nm VECSEL with twisted-mode cavity. Optics Express, 27(19), 27267-27272. doi:https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.27.027267
• Rabien, S., Angel, R., Barl, L., Beckmann, U., Busoni, L., Belli, S., Bonaglia, M., Borelli, J., Brynnel, J., Buschkamp, P., Cardwell, A., Contursi, A., Connot, C., Davies, R., Deysenroth, M., Durney, O., Eisenhauer, F., Elberich, M., Esposito, S., , Frye, B., et al. (2019). ARGOS at the LBT Binocular laser guided ground-layer adaptive optics. ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS, 621.
• Hart, M. (2018). Image registration for daylight adaptive optics. Optics Letters, 43(6), 1391--1934. doi:10.1364/OL.43.001391
• Hart, M., Swindle, T. R., Hope, D. A., & Jefferies, S. M. (2018). High-resolution space situational awareness imaging using carbon fiber telescopes. J. Appl. Rem. Sens., 12(4). doi:https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JRS.12.042406
• Kane, T. J., Hillman, P. D., Denman, C. A., Hart, M., Scott, R. P., Purucker, M. E., & Potashnik, S. J. (2018). Laser Remote Magnetometry Using Mesospheric Sodium. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS, 123(8), 6171-6188.
• Hart, M., Hope, D., & Romeo, R. (2017). Design of a space-based infrared imaging interferometer. OPTICAL ENGINEERING, 56(7).
• LeMaster, D., Hart, M., Lambert, A., & Gladysz, S. (2017). Long-Range Imaging. OPTICAL ENGINEERING, 56(7).
• Hart, M., Jefferies, S. M., & Hope, D. A. (2016). Atmospheric tomography for artificial satellite observations with a single guide star. OPTICS LETTERS, 41(16), 3723-3726.
• Hart, M., Jefferies, S. M., & Murphy, N. (2016). Daylight operation of a sodium laser guide star for adaptive optics wavefront sensing. J. Astron. Telesc. Instrum. Syst., 2(4), 040501.
• Hope, D. A., Jefferies, S. M., Hart, M., & Nagy, J. G. (2016). High-resolution speckle imaging through strong atmospheric turbulence. OPTICS EXPRESS, 24(11), 2116-2129.
• Hart, M., & Hart, M. -. (2010). Recent advances in astronomical adaptive optics. Applied optics, 49(16).
  More info

  The imaging performance of large ground-based astronomical telescopes is compromised by dynamic wavefront aberration caused by atmospheric turbulence. Techniques to measure and correct the aberration in real time, collectively called adaptive optics (AO), have been developed over the past half century, but it is only within the past decade that the delivery of diffraction-limited image quality at near- and mid-infrared wavelengths at many of the world's biggest telescopes has become routine. Exploitation of this new capability has led to a number of ground-breaking astronomical results, which has in turn spurred the continued development of AO to address ever more technical challenges that limit its scientific applicability. I review the present state of the art, highlight a number of noteworthy scientific results, and outline several ongoing experiments designed to broaden the scope of observations that can be undertaken with AO. In particular, I explore the significant advances required in AO technology to satisfy the needs for a new generation of extremely large telescopes of diameter 25 m and larger that are now being designed.

Proceedings Publications

• Kaneda, Y., Mitten, D., Hart, M., Warner, S., Penttinen, J., & Guina, M. (2020, Jan). Longitudinal scaling of VECSEL output power maintaining narrow linewidth,. In SPIE 11263, 11263.
• Mateen, M., Bigler, C., Johnson, R., Brennan, T., Oliker, M., Hart, M., & Codona, J. (2020, Dec). A test bed to compare the performance of dierent wavefront sensory. In SPIE 11448, 11448.
• Richey, J., & Hart, M. (2020, Dec). Hybrid wave front sensor for partially coherent beacons. In SPIE 11448, 11448.
• Schatz, L., Males, J. R., Codona, J., Pullen, W., Hart, M., Lumbres, J., Neichel, B., Correia, C., Fusco, T., Chambouleyron, V., Janin-Poitron, P., Van Gorkum, K., Mateen, M., Long, J., Bohlman, C., & Fauvarque, O. (2020, Dec). First results of laboratory tests of a three-sided pyramid wavefront sensor. In SPIE 11448, 11448.
• Guthery, C., & Hart, M. (2019, June). Theory and Design of a Hybrid Wave-front Sensor for Adaptive Optics. In AO4ELT6.
• Guthery, C., & Hart, M. (2019, June). Theory and Design of a HybridWave-front Sensor for Adaptive Optics. In pcAOP 2019.
• Hamilton, R., Rice, J., Guthery, C., & Hart, M. (2019, June). Designing, Building, and Testing of a Hybrid Wavefront Sensor for Adaptive Optics. In AO4ELT6.
• Hamilton, R., Rice, J., Guthery, C., & Hart, M. (2019, June). Designing, Building, and Testing of a Hybrid Wavefront Sensor for Adaptive Optics. In pcAOP 2019.
• Hart, M., Hope, D., Richey, J., & Swindle, T. R. (2019, September). Image Restoration from Sodium Guide Star Observations in Daylight. In AMOS.
• Luder, R., Hart, M., Pavlica, K., & Fehlberg, O. (2019, June). Voice-coil array development for a deformable mirror. In AO4ELT6.
• Mitchell, E., & Hart, M. (2019, June). Co-phasing a large array of segmented lasers via interferometry and coherent beam combination methods. In AO4ELT6.
• Noyes, M., & Hart, M. (2019, June). Analyzing the Viability of Satellite Laser Guide Stars for Breakthrough Starshot. In AO4ELT6.
• Reinhart, L., & Hart, M. (2019, June). Theoretical Analysis of a Polychromatic Rayleigh Laser Guide Star. In pcAOP 2019.
• Reinhart, L., Hart, M., & Kaneda, Y. (2019, June). Theoretical Analysis of a Rayleigh-Raman Polychromatic Laser Guide Star. In AO4ELT6.
• Rice, J., Hamilton, R., Bowers, K., & Hart, M. (2019, June). Preliminary Model for Radiometric Design and Analysis of the Breakthrough Starshot Initiative. In AO4ELT6.
• Hart, M. (2018, September). Extending Daytime Adaptive Optics to Faint Objects. In AMOS.
• Hart, M., Codona, J. L., & Mateen, M. (2018, July). A fast wavefront reconstructor for the nonlinear curvature wavefront sensor. In Adaptive Optics Systems VI, 10703.
• Hart, M., Codona, J. L., Schatz, L. H., & Mateen, M. (2018, September). Comparative Performance of a 3-Sided and 4-Sided Pyramid Wavefront Sensor. In AMOS.
• Hart, M., Kaneda, Y., Guina, M., & Penttinen, J. (2018, September). Stable Narrow-line VECSEL Operation for Sodium Guide Star Generation. In AMOS.
• Hart, M., Schatz, L. H., Males, J. R., Close, L. M., Guyon, O., Durney, O. F., Lumbres, J., Miller, K., Knight, J., Rodack, A., Long, J., Van Gorkum, K., Jean, M., & Kautz, M. (2018, July). Design of the MagAO-X Pyramid Wavefront Sensor. In Adaptive Optics Systems VI, 10703.
• Hart, M., Swindle, T. R., Hope, D. A., & Jefferies, S. M. (2018, September). High Resolution Imaging of Satellites in Daylight. In AMOS.
• Hart, M., Hope, D. A., Jefferies, S. M., & Nagy, J. G. (2017, June). Wide-Field Computational Image Restoration. In OSA Mathematics in Imaging.
• Hope, D. A., Hart, M., Swindle, R., & Jefferies, S. M. (2017, September). Image Restoration from Limited Data. In AMOS Technical Conference.
• Jean, M., Bronson, R., Scott, R. P., Hart, M., Johnson, L., & Milster, T. D. (2017, July). Multi-wavelength Characterization of Multi-Order Diffractive Lenslet Arrays. In OSA Optical Fabrication and Test.
• Jin, M., Luder, R. J., Sanchez, L., & Hart, M. (2017, August). Control code for laboratory adaptive optics teaching system. In Astronomical Optics: Design, Manufacture, and Test of Space and Ground Systems, 10401.
• Luder, R. J., Hart, M., Pavlica, K., & Fehlberg, O. (2017, July). Construction of a Voice Coil Actuator Array for an Adaptive Optics System. In OSA Optical Fabrication and Test.
• Rice, J. A., Rice, J. A., Hart, M., Hart, M., Corral, E. L., Corral, E. L., Gou, X., Gou, X., Kim, D. W., & Kim, D. W. (2017, July). Fabrication and Implementation of a New Ceramic Material in an Adaptive Optics System. In OSA Optical Fabrication and Test.
• Sanchez, L., Scott, R. P., Luder, R. J., Jin, M., & Hart, M. (2017, August). Voltage linear transformation circuit design. In Astronomical Optics: Design, Manufacture, and Test of Space and Ground Systems, 10401.
• Schatz, L. H., Males, J. R., Hart, M., Durney, O. F., Close, L. M., Guyon, O., Morzinski, K. M., Lumbres, J. R., & Miller, K. L. (2017, June). Pyramid Wavefront Sensing for Extreme Adaptive Optics. In AO4ELT5.
• Schatz, L. H., Swindle, R., Calef, B., Griffin, S., Hart, M., Lucas, J., Kono, D., & Shurilla, C. (2017, June). Aperture Partitioning for Speckle Imaging. In AO4ELT5.
• Scott, R. P., Jean, M. A., Johnson, L., Gatlin, R., Bronson, R., Hart, M., & Milster, T. D. (2017, August). Lithographic manufacturing of adaptive optics components. In Astronomical Optics: Design, Manufacture, and Test of Space and Ground Systems, 10401.
• Swindle, R., Hope, D. A., Hart, M., & Jefferies, S. M. (2017, September). High Resolution SSA Imaging using Carbon Fiber Telescopes. In AMOS Technical Conference.
• Watson, Z. T., & Hart, M. (2017, September). Remote Acoustic Imaging of Geosynchronous Satellites. In AMOS Technical Conference.
• Hart, M., Hart, M., Furfaro, R., Furfaro, R., Weiner, B. J., Weiner, B. J., Corral, E. L., Corral, E. L., Lyons, E. H., Lyons, E. H., Surdeanu, M., Surdeanu, M., Butcher, E., Butcher, E., Gaylor, D., Gaylor, D., Jah, M. K., Jah, M. K., Merchant, N. C., , Merchant, N. C., et al. (2016, May). A New Approach to Space Domain Awareness at the University of Arizona. In NATO Symposium on Considerations for Space and Space-Enabled Capabilities in NATO Coalition Operations, SCI-283.
• Hart, M., Jefferies, S. M., Hope, D. A., Nagy, J. G., & Swindle, T. R. (2016, September). A comprehensive approach to high-resolution daylight imaging for SSA. In Advanced Maui Optical Space Surveillance Technologies Conference.
• Hart, M., Jefferies, S., & Hope, D. (2016, August). Tomographic Wave-Front Sensing with a Single Guide Star. In UNCONVENTIONAL IMAGING AND WAVEFRONT SENSING XII, 9982.
• Hart, M., Jefferies, S., & Murphy, N. (2016, August). Daylight Operation of a Sodium Laser Guide Star. In ADAPTIVE OPTICS SYSTEMS V, 9909.
• Hope, D. A., Hart, M., Warner, S., Durney, O., & Romeo, R. (2016, April). A novel light weight Fizeau Infrared Interferometric imaging system. In SENSORS AND SYSTEMS FOR SPACE APPLICATIONS IX, 9838.
• Jefferies, S. M., & Hart, M. (2016, September). Daylight operation of a sodium laser guide star for adaptive optics wavefront sensing. In Advanced Maui Optical Space Surveillance Technologies Conference.
• Schatz, L. H., Scott, R. P., Bronson, R. S., Sanchez, L., & Hart, M. (2016, August). Design of Wide-Field Imaging Shack Hartmann Testbed. In UNCONVENTIONAL IMAGING AND WAVEFRONT SENSING XII, 9982.
• Hart, M., Rast, R., Jefferies, S. M., & Hope, D. A. (2015, Sept.). Resolved Observations of Geosynchronous Satellites from the 6.5 m MMT. In AMOS Technical Conference.
• Hart, M. (2014, 2014-09-05). Status of the ARGOS project. In Adaptive Optics Systems IV, 9148, 91481B-01.
• Hart, M. (2014, September). A Wavefront Sensor to Detect Dim Objects. In Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies Conference.
• Hart, M. (2014, September). Fast Tomographic Reconstruction of Atmospheric Turbulence from Micro-lens Imagery. In Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies Conference.
• Hart, M. (2014, September). Quantitative measurements of daytime near infrared sky brightness at the AEOS 3.6 m telescope. In Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies Conference.
• Hart, M. (2014, September). Robust image restoration for groundbased space surveillance. In Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies Conference.
• Hart, M., Stalcup, T., Durney, O., Emerson, N., Powell, K., Ward, M., Feller, G., Kendrick, R., Mason, J., Bold, M., Dewell, L., & Kubo, T. (2013, may). Adaptive optics for fiber-fed interferometers. In Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) Conference Series, 8725.
• Jefferies, S. M., Hope, D. A., Hart, M., & Nagy, J. G. (2013, oct). High-resolution imaging through strong atmospheric turbulence. In Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) Conference Series, 8890.
• Bouchez, A. H., Acton, D. S., Agapito, G., Arcidiacono, C., Bennet, F., Biliotti, V., Bonaglia, M., Briguglio, R., Brusa-Zappellini, G., Busoni, L., Carbonaro, L., Codona, J. L., Conan, R., Connors, T., Durney, O., Espeland, B., Esposito, S., Fini, L., Gardhouse, R., , Gauron, T. M., et al. (2012, jul). The Giant Magellan Telescope adaptive optics program. In Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) Conference Series, 8447.
• G "assler, W., Rabien, S., Esposito, S., Lloyd-Hart, M., Barl, L., Beckmann, U., Bluemchen, T., Bonaglia, M., Borelli, J. L., Brusa, G., Brynnel, J., Buschkamp, P., Busoni, L., Carbonaro, L., Connot, C., Davies, R., Deysenroth, M., Durney, O., Green, R., , Gemperlein, H., et al. (2012, jul). Status of the ARGOS ground layer adaptive optics system. In Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) Conference Series, 8447.
• Hart, M., & Codona, J. L. (2012, jul). Application of dOTF wavefront sensing to 3D aberration measurement in an optical system. In Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) Conference Series, 8447.
• Hart, M., & Codona, J. L. (2012, oct). Wavefront sensing with the differential optical transfer function. In Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) Conference Series, 8520.
• Hart, M., Ammons, S. M., Coughenour, B., & Romeo, R. (2012, may). Unconventional adaptive mirrors at the University of Arizona. In Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) Conference Series, 8373.
• Hart, M., Codona, J., Codona, R., Ammons, S. M., Macintosh, B. A., McCarville, T., Pardini, T., Pivovaroff, M., & Poyneer, L. (2012, jul). Conceptual design for a deformable mirror for use with x-ray sources. In Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) Conference Series, 8447.
• Hart, M., Codona, J., Codona, R., Ammons, S. M., Macintosh, B. A., McCarville, T., Pardini, T., Pivovaroff, M., & Poyneer, L. (2012, oct). Conceptual design of a grazing incidence x-ray deformable mirror using voice-coil actuators. In Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) Conference Series, 8503.
• Newman, K., Hart, M., Bendek, E., & Bustos, E. (2012, jul). Lunar scintillometer to validate GLAO turbulence distribution measurements. In Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) Conference Series, 8447.

Presentations

• Hart, M., Codona, J., Hope, D., Milton, M., Watson, Z., Swindle, T., Johnson, R., Richey, J., & Pereira, W. (2019, September). Advances in Electro-Optic Sensing for SSA. Space Surveillance Workshop 2019, Kihei, HI. Kihei, HI: US Air Force.
• Hart, M., Kaneda, Y., Warner, S. H., Guina, M., & Penttinen, J. (2018, November). Narrow-Linewidth Operation of Folded VECSEL Cavity with Twist-Mode Configuration. Advanced Solid-State Lasers. Boston: OSA.
• Pearce, E. C., Jah, M. K., Hart, M., & Reddy Kanupuru, V. V. (2017, 01/26/2017). The Role of Universitiesin Space Situational Awareness and Global Space Traffic Management. Briefing to the US Senate and House Armed Services Committees Staff. Washington DC.