A deep reinforcement learning approach to wavefront control for exoplanet imaging

Space Telescopes and Instrumentation: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, pp. 180

Abstract

Exoplanet imaging uses coronagraphs to block out the bright light from a star, allowing astronomers to observe the much fainter light from planets orbiting the star. However, these instruments are heavily impacted by small aberrations in the wavefront and require the minimization of starlight residuals directly in the focal plane. Stateof-the art wavefront control methods suffer from errors in the underlying physical models, and often require several iterations to minimize the intensity in the dark hole, limiting performance and reducing effective observation time. This study aims at developing a data-driven method to create a dark hole in post-coronagraphic images. For this purpose, we leverage the model-free capabilities of reinforcement learning to train an agent to learn a control strategy directly from phase diversity images acquired around the focal plane. Initial findings demonstrate successful aberration correction in non-coronagraphic simulations and promising results for dark hole creation in post-coronagraphic scenarios. These results highlight the potential of model-free reinforcement learning for dark-hole creation, justifying further investigation and eventually experimental validation on a dedicated testbed.

Authors 6

1. Yann Gutierrez

   Université Paris-Saclay · Office National d'Études et de Recherches Aérospatiales · Laboratoire d’études spatiales et d’instrumentation en astrophysique · Département Traitement de l’Information et Systèmes · Département Optique et Techniques Associées

   Affiliation as printed

   Lab. d'Etudes Spatiales et d'Instrumentation en Astrophysique (France)

   ONERA (France)

   DOTA, ONERA, Université Paris Saclay [Palaiseau] (91120 Palaiseau - France)

   DTIS, ONERA, Université Paris Saclay [Palaiseau] (91120 Palaiseau - France)

   LESIA - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique = Laboratory of Space Studies and Instrumentation in Astrophysics (5, place Jules Janssen 92190 MEUDON - France)

2. Johan Mazoyer

   Observatoire de Paris · Laboratoire d’études spatiales et d’instrumentation en astrophysique

   Affiliation as printed

   Lab. d'Etudes Spatiales et d'Instrumentation en Astrophysique (France)

   LESIA - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique = Laboratory of Space Studies and Instrumentation in Astrophysics (5, place Jules Janssen 92190 MEUDON - France)

   Observatoire de Paris (61 Av de l'Observatoire 75014 PARIS - France)

3. Olivier Herscovici-Schiller

   Université Paris-Saclay · Office National d'Études et de Recherches Aérospatiales · Département Traitement de l’Information et Systèmes

   Affiliation as printed

   ONERA (France)

   DTIS, ONERA, Université Paris Saclay [Palaiseau] (91120 Palaiseau - France)

4. Laurent M. Mugnier

   Université Paris-Saclay · Office National d'Études et de Recherches Aérospatiales · Département Optique et Techniques Associées

   Affiliation as printed

   DOTA, ONERA, Université Paris Saclay [Palaiseau] (91120 Palaiseau - France)

5. B. Abeloos

   Université Paris-Saclay · Office National d'Études et de Recherches Aérospatiales · Département Traitement de l’Information et Systèmes

   Affiliation as printed

   ONERA (France)

   DTIS, ONERA, Université Paris Saclay [Palaiseau] (91120 Palaiseau - France)

6. Iva Laginja Aachen Leiden Univ. (Netherlands)

   Leiden University · Laboratoire d’études spatiales et d’instrumentation en astrophysique

   Affiliation as printed

   Lab. d'Etudes Spatiales et d'Instrumentation en Astrophysique (France)

   Leiden Univ. (Netherlands)

   LESIA - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique = Laboratory of Space Studies and Instrumentation in Astrophysics (5, place Jules Janssen 92190 MEUDON - France)

   Universiteit Leiden = Leiden University (Leiden University | 2300 RA Leiden The Netherlands - Netherlands)