{"id":452905,"date":"2026-02-18T18:55:35","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T18:55:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/forum\/forums\/topic\/psf-sum-in-multiconfiguration-system-zemax\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T18:55:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T18:55:35","slug":"psf-sum-in-multiconfiguration-system-zemax","status":"publish","type":"topic","link":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/forum\/forums\/topic\/psf-sum-in-multiconfiguration-system-zemax\/","title":{"rendered":"PSF Sum in multiconfiguration system &#8211; Zemax"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&lt;p&gt;Hello all,&lt;\/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I modeled a segmented telescope in Zemax using multi-configurations, following the Zemax tutorial &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/optics.ansys.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/42661794334995-How-to-model-an-adaptive-optical-system\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How to model an adaptive optical system<\/a>&#8220;. I am trying to calculate the Huygens PSF of the system. From my understanding, based on the Zemax manual as well as this&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/community.zemax.com\/got-a-question-7\/incoherent-sum-of-psf-from-configurations-4610\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Zemax community thread<\/a>, the PSF calculated with &#8220;ALL&#8221; configurations selected in the Huygens PSF window gives a coherent sum of the PSFs of all configurations. However, for a telescope looking at distant stars, I want an incoherent sum of PSFs.&lt;\/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/forum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/18-02-2026-1771440612-mceclip0.png\" \/>&lt;\/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;When I try to baseline my model with a single configuration mirror, on which I apply a User-Defined Aperture to replicate my multiconfiguration model. Here, the Huygens PSF obtained (first figure) is identical to the PSF obtained from my multi-configuration (second figure) and I think they make sense based on the geometry of the segmented mirror. One would say I should be happy about it.&lt;\/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/forum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/18-02-2026-1771440711-mceclip1.png\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/forum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/18-02-2026-1771440771-mceclip2.png\" \/>&lt;\/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;My question arises because I thought that, since the multi-configuration PSF is a coherent sum, I should not obtain the same PSF as the single configuration\/multiple aperture. Am I understanding\/doing something wrong?&nbsp;&lt;\/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Thank you all for your help!&lt;\/p&gt;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-452905","topic","type-topic","status-publish","hentry","topic-tag-huygens","topic-tag-multi-configuration","topic-tag-psf"],"aioseo_notices":[],"acf":[],"custom_fields":[{"0":{"_bbp_forum_id":["27816"],"_bbp_topic_id":["452905"],"_bbp_subscription":["653928","50911"],"_bbp_author_ip":["38.23.233.215"],"_bbp_last_reply_id":["453089"],"_bbp_last_active_id":["453089"],"_bbp_last_active_time":["2026-02-23 00:44:01"],"_bbp_reply_count":["2"],"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":["0"],"_bbp_voice_count":["2"],"_bbp_engagement":["653928","50911"],"_btv_view_count":["127"],"_bbp_topic_status":["unanswered"]},"test":"phstj3ulaval-ca"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/forum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics\/452905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/forum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/forum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/topic"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/forum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics\/452905\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/innovationspace.ansys.com\/forum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}