Leaps-MPS: developing novel imaging techniques and limits with fisher information-based or quantum-inspired superresolution

Adelphi University received a $242,300 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences (CFDA 47.049) on August 15, 2025, with a project completion date of July 31, 2027. The grant supports research into novel imaging techniques that overcome fundamental resolution limitations in conventional imaging systems such as telescopes, microscopes, and cameras. The project analyzes modal imaging—a recent advancement that can partially circumvent standard resolution limits—and develops solutions to address current limitations preventing its widespread adoption. Additionally, the research explores the counter-intuitive application of optical aberrations as a mechanism to enhance system resolution beyond that of aberration-free imaging systems.

The deliverables from this project include fundamental research findings on Fisher information-based and quantum-inspired superresolution imaging approaches with direct applications to astronomy and biological imaging. The project incorporates significant educational outcomes through undergraduate student participation in computational research strategies and experimental optics laboratory work conducted in collaboration with the University of Rochester's Institute of Optics. The research contributions will advance high-resolution imaging capabilities while developing workforce competencies in computational and experimental methodologies within the optics research community.

Abstract

Under conventional operation, imaging systems like telescopes, microscopes, and cameras all suffer from resolution limits: IT is impossible to discern the details of the desired object scene when they become too small. A recent novel imaging scheme, known as modal imaging, has been shown to at least partially circumvent these resolution limits. However, modal imaging comes with limitations that have prevented widespread adoption or replacement of conventional imaging systems. This project analyzes these limitations and proposes novel solutions so that modal imaging?s benefits of improved resolution can be realized across numerous imaging applications. In a parallel vein, this project explores the counter-intuitive notion that imaging systems with aberrations, which are traditionally considered to be purely detrimental to system performance, may have the ability to resolve object scenes more effectively than aberration-free systems. The outcomes of this project will contribute to the advancement of high-resolution imaging, which finds applications in fields that benefit from the ability to accurately characterize, discern, and detect information from complicated object scenes, including the fields of astronomy and biological imaging. Undergraduate students participating in the project will learn to employ computational research strategies, and one student will have the opportunity to work experimentally in an optics laboratory through collaboration with the university of rochester?s institute of optics. Development of computational and experimental research skills, as well as exposure to the broader optics community, will provide valuable experience for the students as they consider career paths in stem. The primary goal of this project is to elaborate and expand upon findings that imaging systems with off-axis aberrations may have greater resolution, quantified via the fisher information (FI), than their aberration-free counterpart. This would challenge traditional notions that ideal systems are diffraction-limited. This goal will be achieved with the derivation of the FI matrices of such aberrated systems and verified with maximum likelihood estimation performed on both simulated and experimental data. These computational and theoretical methods will be used to quantify and design aberrated imaging systems that outperform conventional ones in complex multi-parameter object estimation within the practical constraints of realistic systems. Additionally, a theoretical study on extending the feasibility of using modal imaging to circumvent conventional resolution limits will be performed. To accomplish this, various multi-stage imaging designs, in which the resolution benefits of modal imaging are supplemented by prior measurements, will be detailed and explored. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.