Comparison of forward models and phase retrieval for image formation from intensity interferometer data

Many imaging techniques provide measurements proportional to Fourier magnitudes of an object, from which one attempts to form an image. One such technique is intensity interferometry which measures the squared Fourier modulus. Intensity interferometry is a synthetic aperture approach known to obtain high spatial resolution information, and is effectively insensitive to degradations from atmospheric turbulence. These benefits are offset by an intrinsically low signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio. Forward models have been theoretically shown to have best performance for many imaging approaches. On the other hand, phase retrieval is designed to reconstruct an image from Fourier-plane magnitudes and object-plane constraints. So it's natural to ask, "How well does phase retrieval perform compared to forward models in cases of interest?" Image reconstructions are presented for both techniques in the presence of significant noise. Preliminary conclusions are presented for attainable resolution vs. DC SNR.