On- and off-axis statistical behavior of adaptive-optics-corrected short-exposure Strehl ratio.

Statistical behavior of the adaptive-optics- (AO-) corrected short-exposure point-spread function (PSF) is derived assuming a perfect correction of the phase's low spatial frequencies. Analytical expressions of the Strehl ratio (SR) fluctuations of on- and off-axis short-exposure PSFs are obtained. A theoretical expression of the short SR angular correlation is proposed and used to derive a definition of an anisoplanatic angle for AO-corrected images. Several applications of the analytical expressions are proposed: AO performance characterization, postprocessing imaging, light coupling into fiber, and exoplanet detection from a ground-based telescope.

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