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SOXS (Son Of X-Shooter) is a single object spectrograph offering a simultaneous spectral coverage from U- to H-band, built by an international consortium for the 3.58-m ESO New Technology Telescope at the La Silla Observatory. It is designed to observe all kind of transients and variable sources discovered by different surveys with a highly flexible schedule maintained by the consortium, based on the Target of Opportunity concept. SOXS is going to be a fundamental spectroscopic partner for any kind of imaging survey, becoming one of the premier transient follow-up instruments in the Southern hemisphere. This paper gives an updated status of the project, when the instrument is in the advanced phase of integration and testing in Europe, prior to the activities in Chile., Proc. SPIE 12184, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy IX, 121840O (2022)

The near-field (NF) acquisition time depends on the sampling strategy and on the measurement hardware. Optimised sampling based on singular value optimisation dramatically reduces the number of measurement points and the scanning path length compared to conventional samplings, without impairing the far-field reconstruction. Furthermore, an optimised control approach, tracking a sufficiently smooth trajectory allows better performance in terms of velocity and precision, significantly reducing the scanning time. We show that the combined use of an optimised sampling and an optimised controller drastically reduces the measurement time. The sampling strategy provides a raster grid of optimally selected rows hosting samples optimally arranged according to a row-wise non-uniform distribution. The optimised control drives the NF scanner and the vector network analyser to acquire the data along each row by a continuous probe movement with a variable velocity, accelerating and decelerating between two consecutive sampling points. The sparsity of the NF locations enables a significant increase in the average speed between two consecutive points. The controller is realised with a proportional-integral-derivative law with a compensation signal and a filter downstream. The controller does not demand complex hardware and can be realised in an extremely simple, cheap and off-the-shelf solution.

A tracking problem is considered for a very recurring class of systems, such as Cartesian robots with real actuators, conveyor belts, and certain scanning devices used for medical and engineering applications, as near-field antenna characterization. Theorems are proven for the design of a PID controller with a possible compensation signal to track sufficiently regular trajectories with a prescribed maximum error. The developed design methodology is used to identify the current antenna scanning system without a controller and to design and construct a new controller that provides better performance than the current one. Moreover, this paper proposes an optimized raster scan acquisition scheme that reduces the number of field samples and the scanning path length compared with the more conventional approaches. By using the new controller and the proposed optimized sampling strategy, which provides a sparse distribution of the samples, the performance of an antenna can be evaluated in a considerably shorter time than that necessary using the pre-existing controller and standard scanning, as experimentally assessed in this paper.

An optimized Near-Field antenna characterization is presented based on an optimized number and distribution of the sampling points and on an optimized controller able to exploit the performance of the scanning system. Indeed, to take full advantage of the optimized sampling grid and to reduce the measurement time, a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) control system has been developed to drive the Near-Field scanner and to follow a general trajectory traversing the samples arranged on a raster grid. The performance of the control system is experimentally assessed by a comparison with a standard approach

We present an approach for a fast and accurate determination of the geometrical optics solutions to Maxwell's equations based on the determination of the eikonal function and devised to handle scenarios involving complex spatially varying refraction indices. The explicit solution of the eikonal equation allows to set up an inverse ray tracing scheme, which proves particularly convenient compared to direct ray tracing. The field amplitude and polarization are then found by solving the relative transport equations along each ray. The accuracy of the method is shown in the case of the scattering from a conducting sphere coated by a dielectric. © 2017 ACES.

We compare the computational performance of the Fast Marching Method, the Fast Sweeping Method and the Fast Iterative Method to determine a numerical solution to the eikonal equation. We point out how the Fast Iterative Method outperforms the other two thanks to its parallel processing capabilities.

An innovative method for the diagnosis of large reflector antennas from far field data in radio astronomical application is presented, which is based on the optimization of the number and the location of the far field sampling points required to retrieve the antenna status in terms of feed misalignments. In these applications a continuous monitoring of the Antenna Under Test (AUT), and its subsequent reassessment, is necessary to guarantee the optimal performances of the radiotelescope. The goal of the method is to reduce the measurement time length to minimize the effects of the time variations of both the measurement setup and of the environmental conditions, as well as the issues raised by the complex tracking of the source determined by a prolonged acquisition process. Furthermore, a short measurement process helps to shorten the idle time forced by the maintenance activity. The field radiated by the AUT is described by the aperture field method. The effects of the feed misalignments are modeled in terms of an aberration function, and the relationship between this function and the Far Field Pattern is recast in the linear map by expanding on a proper set of basis functions the perturbation function of the Aperture Field. These basis functions are determined using the Principal Component Analysis. Accordingly, from the Far Field Pattern, assumed measured in amplitude and phase, the unknown parameters defining the antenna status can be retrieved. The number and the position of the samples is then found by a Singular Values Optimization (SVO). © 2016 AMTA.

The communication presents an innovative method for the diagnosis of reflector antennas in radio astronomical applications. The approach is based on the optimization of the number and the distribution of the far field sampling points exploited to retrieve the antenna status in terms of feed misalignments, this to drastically reduce the time length of the measurement process and minimize the effects of variable environmental conditions and simplifying the tracking process of the source. The feed misplacement is modeled in terms of an aberration function of the aperture field. The relationship between the unknowns and the far field pattern samples is linearized thanks to a Principal Component Analysis. The number and the position of the field samples are then determined by optimizing the Singular Values behaviour of the relevant operator. © 2016 SPIE.

We develop an approach for the fast and accurate determination of geometrical optics solutions to Maxwell’s equations in inhomogeneous 2D media and for TM polarized electric fields. The eikonal equation is solved by the fast marching method. Particular attention is paid to consistently discretizing the scatterers’ boundaries and matching the discretization to that of the computational domain. The ray tracing is performed, in a direct and inverse way, by using a technique introduced in computer graphics for the fast and accurate generation of textured images from vector fields. The transport equation is solved by resorting only to its integral form, the transport of polarization being trivial for the considered geometry and polarization. Numerical results for the plane wave scattering of two perfectly conducting circular cylinders and for a Luneburg lens prove the accuracy of the algorithm. In particular, it is shown how the approach is capable of properly accounting for the multiple scattering occurring between the two metallic cylinders and how inverse ray tracing should be preferred to direct ray tracing in the case of the Luneburg lens.

We develop an approach for a fast and accurate determination of the Geometrical Optics solutions to Maxwell's equations based on the determination of the eikonal function. The approach, here presented for a 3D problem, is devised to handle scenarios involving complex spatially varying refraction indices. A new solution to a critical issue related to matching of computational grids across scatterers' boundaries is introduced. The explicit solution of the eikonal equation allows to set up an inverse ray tracing scheme, which proves particularly convenient as compared to direct ray tracing. Inverse ray tracing is performed using techniques from computer graphics improving computational performance. The field amplitude and polarization are then found by solving the relative transport equations along each ray.

This paper describes the active optics system of the VLT Survey Telescope, the 2.6-m survey telescope designed for visible wavelengths of the European Southern Observatory at Cerro Paranal, in the Atacama desert. The telescope is characterized by a wide field of view (1.42 deg diameter), leading to tighter active optics than in conventional telescopes, in particular for the alignment requirements. We discuss the effects of typical error sources on the image quality and present the specific solutions adopted for wavefront sensing and correction of the aberrations, which are based on the shaping of a monolithic primary mirror and the positioning of the secondary in five degrees of freedom.

Protoplast fusion between incongruent Solanum bulbocastanum and S. tuberosum haploids was accomplished to produce hybrids combining elite traits from both parents. We identified 11 somatic hybrids out of 42 regenerants analyzed through ISSR markers. Some hybrids had loss or gain of fragments compared to the parents, likely due to rearrangements and deletions of chromosome segments after fusion, and/or to somaclonal variation during hybrid regeneration. Increased heterotic vigor for some traits as well as high diversity was observed as the effect of both ploidy and fusion combination. Microsporogenesis analysis indicated the occurrence of multivalent configurations and several meiotic abnormalities, such as chromosomes bridges and various spindle orientations. Since all hybrids were sterile, in vitro anther culture was employed for haploidization as a possible strategy to overcome barriers to hybridizations. Haploids were obtained from all the tetraploid S. bulbocastanum (+) S. tuberosum somatic hybrids tested, although with differences in both the number of embryos per 100 anthers cultured and the number of differentiated green plantlets. This is the first report on the successful production of haploid plants from S. bulbocastanum (+) S. tuberosum hybrids.

We present an ω-k approach based on the use of a 1D Non-Uniform FFT (NUFFT) routine, of NER (Non-Equispaced Results) type, programmed on a GPU by means of a Matlab code speeded-up by Accelereyes Jacket. The implementation of the GPU-based, parallel NUFFT routine is detailed and the computational advantages of the developed approach are highlighted against a multi-core CPU procedure implemented in Matlab language. The GPU-based routine has resulted about 5 times faster than the multicore CPU-based one. Experimental results of vegetation imaging on a box-tree (Buxus tree) are also presented.

Cultivated and wild potato species synthesize a wide variety of steroidal glycoalkaloids (GAs). During breeding programs, species genomes are often put together through either sexual or somatic hybridization. Therefore, the determination of the GA composition of hybrids is very important in that it may affect either human consumption, or resistance to pathogen and pests. Here, we report the results of GA analysis performed on wild Solanum bulbocastanum, haploids of cultivated potato S. tuberosum and their interspecific somatic hybrids. GAs were extracted from tubers and analyzed by HPLC. HPLC Profile of S. tuberosum haploids showed, as expected, the presence of alpha-solanine and alpha-chaconine. The profile of S. bulbocastanum extract showed lack of alpha-solanine and alpha-chaconine, and the presence of four GAs. The GA pattern of the somatic hybrids was the sum of their parents' profile. This represents a noteworthy tool for their unequivocal recognition. Interestingly, two hybrids produced not only GAs of both parents but also new compounds to be further investigated. This provided evidence that somatic hybridization induced the synthesis of new metabolites. The nature of the probable unidentified GAs associated to S. bulbocastanum and its somatic hybrids was ascertained by chemical degradation and spectroscopic analysis of their aglycones and sugar moieties. Our results suggest their close relation with GAs of both wild and cultivated potato species.

The paper presents an innovative method for the diagnosis of reflector antennas in radio astronomical applications, which optimizes the number and the location of the far field sampling points exploited to retrieve the antenna status in terms of feed misalignments. In this way the measurement time length process is drastically reduced to minimize the effects of the time variations of the measurement setup, as well as the idle time forced by the maintenance activity. The effects of the feed misalignment are modeled in terms of an aberration function, properly expanded on a set of basis functions in order to preserve the linear relationship between the unknown parameters defining the antenna status and the far field pattern, assumed measured in amplitude and phase. Thanks to the optimization of the Singular Values behavior of the relevant linear operator, in its discrete form, the number and the position of the samples is found. The numerical analysis shows the effectiveness of the method in the simple case of a phase aperture affected by tilt only, even if the approach can be extended also to higher order aberrations. The performances are estimated with a comparison with a standard approach, based on the acquisition of the far field pattern by means of a uniform Cartesian grid defined according the Nyquist criterion and requiring a number of field samples significantly larger.