REVIEW 4 major objections 5 minor 7 references
Proposal for the optical design of three robust and highly performing FPI systems for the European Solar Telescope
T0 review · 4 major / 5 minor · reviewed 2026-08-07 · deepseek-v4-flash
Pith's one-line read This paper proposes that three dual-etalon filter systems for the European Solar Telescope can meet strict image-quality and spectral-resolution goals in a straight-through, lens-only layout under 4.7 meters.
desk verdict Serious, honestly-flagged design study for EST's three FPI systems, but the >90% Strehl claim doesn't survive the authors' own apodization floor: the 12 µm design has zero margin and the 5 µm design falls short. read the letter →
The pith
A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.
The reading
What carries the argument
The load-bearing mechanism is the modular 'mother system': a fixed, telecentric, all-lens reimaging chain (wideband beam-splitter cube, two doublets, the two etalons, another doublet, two pupil stops) whose expensive components are optimized once in a 'mother file' and then left unchanged, plus an interchangeable air-spaced triplet camera lens. Optimizing with an ideal paraxial camera lens first, then designing the real triplet to match, means every change of detector pixel size (the paper designs for 5 and 12 µm) requires only a new camera lens and connecting tube, keeping the mother system intact. Between the etalons the beam is slow (F/110 for EST-B, F/147 for EST-V and R) and telecentric, which makes the apodization from tilted rays small enough to hold Strehl and lets the pupil stops suppress ghosts. The dual-etalon pair—a high-resolution etalon together with a deliberately lower-resolution, lower-reflectivity etalon—mitigates cavity errors, and the camera lens is moved quickly and repeatably to compensate the chromatic focus curve of POP, with small-pixel designs needing only about 1.5 mm of travel for the full EST-B wavelength range.
What would settle it
A Monte Carlo tolerance analysis that adds realistic etalon plate wedges, tilts, and air-slit nonuniformities (with figure-error magnitudes like those reported for the heritage etalons) and recomputes the EST-B Strehl at 380 nm at the edge of the field, in the POP-connected configuration, would settle the claim: if the minimum Strehl drops below 0.90, the central feasibility conclusion fails.
Extended reading notes
Core claim
The paper's central claim, stated in the concluding section, is that it is fully feasible to construct highly performing, compact and robust FPI systems for EST, which can easily be adopted to future pixel sizes, with the overall Strehl of EST-B kept in excess of 90 percent. The evidence is a set of Zemax-based optical designs and Strehl/spot-diagram tables showing that each system meets the SAG top-level requirements across its full wavelength range and 1-arcminute field, both standalone and when connected to the pier optical path (POP). The design achieves this through four interacting choices: minimize the etalon clear aperture by choosing the smallest F-ratio (110 for EST-B, 147 for EST-V and EST-R) that keeps apodization-induced Strehl loss under 5 percent; use a straight-through lens-only telecentric train so there are no folding mirrors; pair a high-resolution, high-reflectivity etalon with a low-reflectivity, low-resolution etalon to suppress cavity errors; and refocus at each wavelength by translating only the small camera lens. The paper is explicit that this is a conceptual design, not a final one: the Fabry-Perot plates are modeled as ideal glass blocks without wedges, tilts, or air slits, and the authors list the inclusion of real plate details, refined tolerances, ghost images, and polarization fringes as remaining final-design work.
Load-bearing premise
The performance numbers assume that real Fabry-Perot plates—with their wedges, tilts, and air gaps—will not degrade image quality below the idealized 'two glass blocks' model; the paper defers that analysis to the final design phase and supports the assumption only by citing the earlier instruments' experience.
Editorial extensions
If this is right
- EST-B, EST-V, and EST-R can meet the SAG top-level requirements—1 arcmin field, spectral resolutions 50,000 to 100,000, Strehl above 90 percent, image scales 0.010 to 0.017 arcsec/pixel—with total optical lengths of 4.4–4.7 m and no folding mirrors.
- A future change in camera pixel size is absorbed by replacing only the last lens: the 5 µm EST-B design needs only 1.5 mm of camera-lens travel to compensate POP's 6.4 mm focus curve, while the 12 µm design needs 9.3 mm, and both keep minimum Strehl near or above 0.95.
- Refocusing can be fast enough to hide behind pre-filter changes, so the chromatic focus curve of POP does not cost observing time.
- The wideband companion channels can be matched to the narrowband image scale during refocusing by using slightly different camera lenses, preserving the wideband data as a stable reference for image reconstruction.
- EST-V and EST-R are the easier systems: their Strehl values are 97–100 percent across essentially all field points and wavelengths with both 6.5 µm and 12 µm pixels, and their POP focus curves are nearly flat.
Reading between the lines
- If the final tolerance analysis confirms the assumptions, the mother-system modularity means the same core optics could serve other 4-meter-class solar telescopes (or multiple port configurations of EST) with only a new input lens and camera lens.
- The strong preference for small pixels in the paper suggests an even smaller detector—say 3–4 µm—would nearly eliminate the refocus-image-scale problem, since the required camera-lens travel scales with the square of the magnification.
- The constraint that narrowband and wideband systems share the same image scale is currently driven by the image-reconstruction software; if software that handles different scales is adopted, the image-scale-stabilized 12 µm camera lens (with its lower, 0.87–0.90 Strehl) becomes unnecessary.
- A concrete next step would be to build one prototype camera lens using the proposed alignment-bonding assembly and measure its delivered wavefront; this would retire the largest manufacturing risk identified in the tolerances.
Editorial analysis
A structured set of objections, weighed in public.
Referee Report
Summary. The paper presents a preliminary optical design for three dual Fabry-Perot imaging spectropolarimeters for the European Solar Telescope (EST-B, EST-V, and EST-R), covering 380-500 nm, 500-680 nm, and 680-1000 nm. The systems are compact, lens-only, telecentric designs shorter than 4.7 m with no folding mirrors, using two doublets, two etalons, a doublet, and an air-spaced triplet camera lens; the camera lens is replaceable to adapt the image scale. The authors report Zemax-derived Strehl values of 0.91-0.96 for EST-B in the 380-500 nm range and values of 0.97 or higher for EST-V and EST-R. They conclude in Sect. 9 that 'the overall Strehl of EST-B ... can be kept in excess of 90%', with the apodization contribution from the etalon F-ratios set to a 95% floor in Sect. 1 using F-ratios of 110 (EST-B) and 147 (EST-V/R) taken from a companion paper.
Significance. If fully established, the design would meet the SAG top-level requirements (1 arcmin field, spectral resolutions of 50,000-100,000, Strehl above 90%, image scales 0.010-0.017 arcsec/pixel) in a modular and mechanically robust layout. The paper's strengths include complete Zemax prescriptions and Strehl tables in the appendices, an explicit two-configuration optimization that forces the narrowband and wideband systems to share the same image scale, a Monte Carlo tolerance study for EST-V, and a candid statement of the remaining design work. However, the central Strehl claim is not supported by the paper's own arithmetic once the 0.95 apodization floor is multiplied into the optical-design Strehl values, and the estimates omit the FPI plates themselves. The engineering value of the full prescriptions and the transparency about open items are genuine merits, but the headline quantitative conclusion is not yet established.
major comments (4)
- [Sect. 9, Tables A.11 and A.13] The conclusion that 'the overall Strehl of EST-B ... can be kept in excess of 90%' does not follow from the paper's own numbers. The Strehl tables are optical-design values for the lens system only; the FPI plates are modeled as glass blocks without wedges, tilts, or air slits (Sect. 2.2), and the apodization contribution from the finite F-ratio is a separate 0.95 floor set in Sect. 1 by the adopted F=110. For the 5 micron EST-B design, the minimum Strehl with POP is 0.91 at 380 nm and the 30" field edge (Table A.11), so 0.91 x 0.95 = 0.86, below the SAG requirement of >0.90. For the 12 micron image-quality design, the minimum is 0.95 (Table A.13), giving 0.95 x 0.95 = 0.90 with essentially zero margin. Thus the 'in excess of 90%' claim holds only for the 12 micron design in the idealized glass-block model, and only marginally at the worst field point; the 5 micron design, which the text explicitly endorses as needing no further improvement, fails the requirement even under the idealized assumption.
- [Sects. 1 and 3.1, Tables 4 and 12] The load-bearing F-ratios between the etalons (110 for EST-B, 147 for EST-V and EST-R) and the corresponding 95% apodization Strehl floor are taken from the companion paper (Scharmer et al. 2025, in prep.), which is not available to the reader. These values set the etalon clear apertures, the field diameter between the etalons, and the apodization term in the Strehl budget. Without at least a summary of the apodization calculation, or the companion paper being made accessible, the central design parameters cannot be independently checked. The essential derivation should be included as an appendix or in the main text.
- [Sect. 2.2] The FPI plates are explicitly modeled 'as two glass blocks without any wedges, tilts or air slits', and the paper states that including the details of the FPI plates, refining the tolerance analysis, and modeling ghost images and polarization fringes remain for the final design. At the proposed clear apertures (140-200 mm) and the short wavelengths of EST-B (380-500 nm), surface figure error, wedge, coating nonuniformity, and cavity errors will enter the Strehl budget, and the paper provides no quantitative estimate of these contributions. The CRISP and CHROMIS heritage is invoked qualitatively, but those systems operate at smaller apertures and longer wavelengths; they do not quantify the EST-B margin. Given that the idealized margin for the 12 micron design is only about 0.0025 above the requirement and the 5 micron design is below it, the missing etalon error budget is load-bearing for the paper's main conclusion.
- [Sect. 8 and Appendix D] The tolerance analysis is preliminary and does not cover the systems where the Strehl claim matters most. For EST-B, Appendix D.1 lists tolerance values but provides no Monte Carlo result or end-to-end Strehl after manufacturing and assembly errors, and the camera lens (L4) is described as having very demanding tolerances that may force a redesign 'at the prize of a small reduction of the Strehl' (Sect. 9). For EST-R, Sect. 5.2 states that 'A tolerance analysis for EST-R has not yet been carried out'. Since the conclusion refers to 'design, manufacture and alignment of the optics', the absence of a quantified manufacturing and alignment error budget for EST-B and EST-R leaves the 'in excess of 90%' claim unsubstantiated for those systems.
minor comments (5)
- [Abstract] There are two typos in the abstract: 'for for' appears twice, and the final sentence ends with a stray 's.'.
- [Tables B.5, B.7, B.10, B.11, B.13] Several table captions contain '?? mm focus curve' placeholders; the actual camera-lens travel values are given in the text (0.3 mm, 0.92 mm, etc.) and should be inserted in the tables.
- [Figs. 7 and 8] Figure 7's caption says 'the entire narrowband EST-V system' but the figure is labeled 'FPI-R'; Figure 8 similarly describes EST-V camera lenses for figures showing EST-R layouts. The captions and labels should be made consistent.
- [Table 18] The EST-B pixel size is listed as '5.0' in Table 18 but as '5 um' everywhere else; use one consistent notation.
- [Throughout] There are several typos: 'presxented' in Sect. 3.3.2, 'prize' for 'price' in Sect. 9, and 'adoption' where 'adaptation' is meant in the abstract and Sect. 9.
Circularity Check
No circular reduction found: Strehl values are computed from the paper's own Zemax prescriptions, not fit to data. But the '>90% overall Strehl' claim is arithmetically fragile (5 µm EST-B: 0.95 × 0.91 = 0.86 < 0.90) and its 0.95 apodization floor is load-bearing, taken from the authors' own in-prep companion paper.
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self citation load bearing
[Sect. 1 (apodization/F-ratio constraint); Table 4 note; Sect. 9 conclusion]
"The apodization effects depend primarily on the spectral resolution required and the F-ratio of the system at the etalons, and were evaluated through calculations that are reported on separately (Scharmer et al. 2025). Given the spectral resolution required, it was possible to determine the smallest possible F-ratio that allows a Strehl of at least 95%, based on these apodization effects."
The 'overall Strehl ... in excess of 90%' claim (Sect. 9) multiplies the in-paper optical Strehl (Tables A.11/A.13) by a 0.95 apodization floor that is not computed here. Table 4 enters F/110 as 'Obtained from numerical simulations, see Scharmer et al. (2025)', an in-prep companion paper by the same authors, and Sect. 1 says the F-ratio was chosen so apodization 'allows a Strehl of at least 95%'. The margin (0.95 × 0.95 = 0.9025) is inherited from an adopt-by-construction value in an unverifiable self-citation; load-bearing, but not a full reduction, since the cited apodization calculation is physical and the in-paper designs are independent.
full rationale
The optical-design Strehl values (Tables A.8-A.21) are genuine outputs of Zemax ray tracing of the full prescriptions in Appendices A-C, with pupil geometry, glass data and focus-compensation logic specified; they are not fitted to data, and no parameter is tuned to match a measured Strehl. The central content - lens prescriptions, image-scale analysis, tolerance tables (Appendix D), and the EST-V Monte-Carlo check (Table 14) - is self-contained and checkable, so the derivation chain for the designs does not reduce to its inputs. The 'overall Strehl in excess of 90%' conclusion (Sect. 9) is, however, a combination (per the Table 1 footnote) of the in-paper optical Strehl and a 0.95 apodization floor. That floor is not derived here: Table 4 enters 'F-number between FPIs 110' with the note 'Obtained from numerical simulations, see Scharmer et al. (2025)', and Sect. 1 states the F-ratio was chosen so that apodization 'allows a Strehl of at least 95%'. The margin of the headline claim (0.95 × 0.95 = 0.9025 for the 12 µm system) is therefore inherited from an adopt-by-construction input in an unverifiable, in-preparation, same-author companion paper. I flag this as load-bearing self-citation rather than full circularity: the apodization calculation is a parameter-free physical simulation, and the in-paper optical content is independent. Two non-circular concerns weigh in the verdict: (i) using the paper's own tables, the recommended 5 µm EST-B narrowband system gives 0.95 × 0.91 = 0.86 at 380 nm field edge, below the SAG 90% requirement, while the 12 µm system clears 90% with zero margin; and (ii) Sect. 2.2 models the FPI plates 'as two glass blocks without any wedges, tilts or air slits' and defers real plate details, ghost images and polarization fringes to final design, so real-etalon errors are absent from the budget. These are correctness/fragility concerns, not circularity.
Assumptions & free parameters
free parameters (1)
- F-number between etalons (adopted design values) =
110 (EST-B), 147 (EST-V and EST-R)
assumptions (5)
- domain assumption The apodization simulations in Scharmer et al. (2025, in prep.) correctly determine the minimum F-ratio (110 for EST-B, 147 for EST-V/R) for Strehl >= 95%.
- domain assumption The POP design of 23 April 2024, with F/50 telecentric output and focus curve of 6.4 mm (EST-B) or 7.5 mm (EST-R), is correct and representative.
- ad hoc to paper Real FPI plates with wedge, tilt and air slits will not degrade Strehl below the values computed with the glass-block model.
- domain assumption The SAG top-level requirements (Table 1) are accepted as fixed: 1 arcmin FOV, spectral resolutions of 50,000/100,000/80,000, Strehl > 90%, and specified image scales.
- domain assumption The performance heritage of CRISP and CHROMIS at the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope transfers to the larger EST systems.
Cite this review
Pith. "Pith review of Proposal for the optical design of three robust and highly performing FPI systems for the European Solar Telescope." pith.science (2026). https://pith.science/paper/SHSVRRH2
@misc{pith2026250521053,
author = {Pith},
title = {Pith review of: Proposal for the optical design of three robust and highly performing FPI systems for the European Solar Telescope},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://pith.science/paper/SHSVRRH2}},
note = {Machine review of arXiv:2505.21053}
}
read the original abstract
We describe a proposal for the optical design of three dual Fabry-Perot based narrowband filter systems for for the future European Solar Telescope (EST). These are intended to constitute the core elements of three imaging spectropolarimeters, foreseen to become amongst the most important science instruments for EST. The designs proposed here rely heavily on the heritage of CRISP and CHROMIS, developed for the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope and described in detail in a companion paper (Scharmer et al. 2025, in prep.). The outstanding performance of these systems, and the simplicity of their designs, provide strong support of our proposal to build similar systems for EST. The design concepts involve i) minimising the FPI clear aperture diameter by means of numerical simulations based on constraints on Strehl and spectral resolution set by the EST Science Advisory Group (SAG); ii) a compact telecentric optical design with an optical path length of less than 4.7 m; iii) a straight-through optical system based on lenses and without any folding mirrors; iv) the combination of a high resolution etalon with high reflectivity and a low reflectivity, low resolution etalon, to mitigate the effects of cavity errors (Scharmer 2006, Scharmer et al. 2025); v) flexibility in terms of image scale by simple replacement of the last lens (the camera lens) of the FPI system. We propose to compensate for the focus curve of ESTs Pier Optical Path (POP) by focusing the camera lenses of the FPI systems. s. The proposed systems should offer several advantages over other much more complex systems, including manufacture, alignment, stability, flexibility of changes of image scale, and costs. The underlying design concepts also make the proposed FPI systems robust and highly performing in terms of image quality, overall transmission, and fidelity of the spectral transmission profile.
Figures
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Reference graph
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Reviewed August 7, 2026 · model on record in the stance chip above.
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