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ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2019/iii/paper-338/2/a/ii/solution

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Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2019 / iii / Paper 338 / 2 / a / ii / Solution by

Codex  0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14

The main optical path is telescope to deformable mirror to beam splitter to science camera. The splitter also directs reference light to a wavefront sensor; a controller reconstructs the wavefront error and feeds mirror commands back to the deformable mirror. The mirror is normally conjugate to a pupil so its actuators address the corresponding pupil phase. A separate steering mirror can handle overall image motion.

Figure 1.
An adaptive-optics feedback loop
. Solid arrows show optical paths. The wavefront sensor observes the corrected reference beam; dashed arrows return measured errors and actuator commands through the controller. The science beam shares the deformable mirror. Details.

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