Optical Hartley Transforms

~~

JOHN D. VILLASENOR, MEMBER, IEEE

Invited Paper

The two-dimensional Hartley transform is of particular interest not only as a tool for analysis and processing of images and other two-dimensional functions, but because it can be implemented optically without introducing the phase ambiguities associated with intensity-only observations of Fourier transforms. The Hartley transform properp of producing real transforms from real inputs means that square law detection introduces only a sign ambiguity, which can be resolved much more easily than a phase ambiguity. This suggests applications in optical signal processing, holography, and optical difiaction.

I. INTRODUCTION Despite the increasing availability and speed of efficient computer hardware and algorithms to perform digital transforms, analog transforms remain an important altemative to digital processing for applications including optical computing, crystallography, interferometry, image acquisition and processing, and some types of holography. In some cases an analog transform arises as the diffraction pattem of an input that is too small or remote to be directly examined, so information about its nature must be deduced from the transform. In cases where the input is accessible, operations such as convolution, smoothing, or image enhancement can be performed faster optically than digitally, and can take advantage of the distribution of information in the transform domain. The Fourier transform of a real, two-dimensional input is redundant, encoding information in terms of both magnitude and phase over one-half of the output plane and repeating it in conjugate form over the other half. Recording devices such as photographic film, photodetectors, and photodiodes respond only to the intensity and lose half of the information contained in the transform. For applications where the transform phase is important, two broad classes of solutions have been used. In the first class of solutions, phase is deduced from intensity-only records. For example, computer algorithms which transform from one domain to the other and back again can sometimes converge on a solution [ l ] when constraints such as nonnegativity and
Manuscript received April 7, 1993; revised August 17, 1993. The author is with the Electrical Engineering Department, University of Califomia, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1594. IEEE Log Number 9215539.

finite support are applied. Another such technique which fumished a way to deduce crystal structure from intensityonly diffraction pattem observations led to the 1985 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for Jerome Karle [2]. In the second class of solutions, the diffracted radiation is modified so that the phase is encoded in the intensity, rendering magnitude-only records sufficient for inverting the transform. Examples include phase contrast microscopy [3], the central dark ground method [4], and holography [ 5 ] . The Hartley transform [6], [7] renders intensity information sufficient and thus falls into this category, but it differs from the other techniques in that it uses only the diffracted field itself to construct the output and does not require the addition of a reference beam or the masking of a portion of the propagating radiation. Hartley transform theory provides a concise framework for the construction of optical interferometers [8], [9] which furnish transform domain information in a purely real form, and therefore have a number of potential applications. The analog Hartley transform removes the redundancy in a diffraction pattern by redistributing the information over the whole plane in terms of amplitude only. A real-only record of the transform then contains complete information about the nature of the input, enabling unambigious reconstruction. In what follows, the two-dimensional Hartley transform is introduced and compared with the Fourier transform. Expressions for each transform in terms of the other are developed, and these relationships are then exploited in the design of several optical interferometers for obtaining the Hartley transform. Applications in holography and phase measurement are then discussed. Unless stated otherwise, the input functions which are being transformed are assumed to be real. For a discussion of the Hartley transform of a complex input signal, see [lo]. 11. THE HARTLEY TRANSFORM Two DIMENSIONS IN A . FourierlHartley Definitions and Comparison As with many other two-dimensional transformations, the Fourier and Hartley transforms provide an expansion of

0018-9219/94$04.00 0 1994 IEEE

PROCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE. VOL. 82, NO. 3, MARCH 1994
39 I

an arbitrary input f(z,y) in terms of mutually orthogonal basis images. However, despite the differences in their definitions, properties, and theorems, the Hartley and Fourier transforms are much more closely related to each other than they are to the DCT, Karhunen-Ldve (KL) [ 111, and other common 2D transforms. This is because, as explained below, they share essentially the same basis functions and differ only in the way in which the coefficients applied to these functions in the expansion of f ( x , y ) are represented. In a discrete formulation this contrasts strongly, for example, with the DCT [12]. Although basis functions at corresponding spatial frequencies in the DJT and DCT are similar to one another, to precisely represent a single basis function of one of these transforms requires many of the basis functions of the other transform. The two-dimensional continuous Hartley transform H ( u , U) of a function f ( x , y ) is defined as

regarded as fundamental, with the Fourier and Hartley transforms simply providing altemative but equally valid ways of encoding this information. Examination of the Fourier and Hartley transform definitions ?s well as of (3) and (4)shows that the Hartley transform is the sum of the C- and S-transforms

H ( u , w) = C ( u ,v)

+ S ( u ,w)

(5)

while the Fourier transform is formed by

F ( u ,w) = C(u,w) - j S ( u ,U).

(6)

H ( u ,U) =

Jm

.cas [2.rr(ux vy)] dx dy +

-00

1:

f(z, Y)
(1)

where the cas function is cas 8 = cos 8 sin 8. For comparison, the 2D continuous Fourier transform is
J-00 J-00

Although from (1) and (2) the basis functions of the Hartley and Fourier transforms are cas functions and complex exponentials, respectively, the kernels for both of these transforms can be themselves simply decomposed into a combination of a sine and a cosine. Greater understanding is allowed by viewing both transforms in terms of this decomposition, and it is therefore convenient to also introduce the following double-sided two-dimensional Cand S-transforms, G(u,w) and S(u,w),related to cosine and sine transforms [15], where

The familiar complex nature of the Fourier transform of real signals arises as a consquence of multiplying the Stransform by j in (6), or equivalently, from the implicit choice in the Fourier transform definition to represent a real function in terms of the complex exponential constituting the transform kernel. From the standpoint of reversibility and information preservation, it is important only that C(u,w) and S ( u ,w) are retained. Strictly speaking, there is in fact no need to move S(u,w) into the imaginary plane in the manner of (6) because the symmetries discussed above allow it to remain fully distinguishable from C(U , w) under the simple addition used in the Hartley representation. When viewed in this context, many of the familiar properties (for example, Hermitian symmetry, conjugation properties) of the Fourier transform can be seen to arise not as any direct consequence of harmonic representation of signals, but as a result of the particular Fourier mapping of the real C- and S-transforms into a complex space. The relationships described in ( 5 ) and (6) have an interesting geometrical interpretetion that is discussed in [lo].

B. Transform Domain Relations

Although the cas function is most simply written cas 8 = cos 8+sin 8, expressing cos 8 and sin 8 in terms of complex exponentials yields the useful definition
(7)

C(u,.) =

.COS [ ~ T ( U Z VY)] dx dy
+0O

S(u,w) =

1 1, , + ICu J_,
+m

+a

f(Z,Y)

(3)

One can then substitute (7) into (l), giving

+m

f(z,y)

. sin [29r(uz+ wy)] da: dy.

(4)
J Noting that the inverse Fourier transform of f(z, will be y) F ( - u , -w) and comparing the Fourier transform definition to (8) gives l+j 1-j H ( u , v ) = -F(U,W) 2 --F(-U, 2 -w). (9)

Equations (3) and (4) do not constitute reversible transforms. The C-transform is even (i.e., C(u,w) = C(-u, -U)), gives the frequency spectrum of the even part of the input, and carries no information about the odd part, while the S-transform does the opposite. When f ( z , y ) is real, both C(u,U ) and S(u, w) will be real. Because of these symmetries, neither C ( u ,U) nor S ( u ,U) alone can be inverted to completely reproduce f (2, but knowledge y), of both C(u,'u) and S(u,w) does constitute a complete, reversible frequency-space description of f ( z ,y). Taken together, (3) and (4) represent expansions of f ( a , y ) in terms of 2D cosines and sines with the proper amplitudes, spatial frequencies, and orientations in the 2D plane. It is this decomposition of f(x,y) that can be
392

Finally, factoring out a common complex term results in the form

H ( u ,w) = [ F ( u ,w)

+ exp (-j7r/2)F(

-U,

-w)]
(10)

x exp (j9r/4)/Jz.

Equation (10) shows that the Hartley transform can be constructed by superimposing a Fourier transform
PROCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE, VOL. 82, NO. 3, MARCH 1994

on a phase-quadrature rotated copy of itself. The factor exp (j7r/4)/fi simply reflects the difference in phase and amplitude between a cosine function, which constitutes the zero phase/unit amplitude reference for the Fourier transform, and the cas function, which plays the corresponding role for the Hartley transform. A parallel derivation can be carried out to express the Fourier transform as a function of the Hartley transform by noting that
,+e
= cas 0 +cas (-0)
-

In general, the transform w(k,E) gives the coefficients applied to the basis images in the expansion, and the inverse transform can be viewed as the superposition of basis images that generates u(m,n), i.e.
N-1 N-l

j [ cas0 - cas (-S)] . (11) 2

Writing the Fourier transform definition in (2) in terms of cas functions gives

An analogous argument applies in continuous space, where the appropriate inverse transformation applied to H ( u , w ) or F ( u ,w ) expresses f(z, as a superposition of cas or y) complex exponential functions. Consider the discrete input

F ( u ,w ) =

H ( u ,U)

+H(
2

-U,

-w)

The apparent imbalance between (10) and (12) (i.e., it appears mathematically simpler to construct H ( u ,U ) from F ( u ,w ) than vice versa) arises because F ( u ,w ) represents a complex quantity. Expresssing H ( u , v ) in terms of the real and imaginary parts FR and FI of F ( u , v ) gives

where the (m = 0,n = 0) element is located in the upper left comer. The Fourier and Hartley transforms of this input are given respectively by
-j

H ( u ,U) = [FR(KU ) FI(u, U ) - j ( F ~ ( u , - F d u , U))] U) x exp (ja/4)/JZ. (13)

The above expression shows that when variables representing purely real quantities are used, four terms are required in the equations relating the Fourier and Hartley transforms. An example using discrete, two-dimensional transforms will serve to further illustrate the relationship between the Fourier and Hartley transforms. Denoting an N x N input image by u(m,n), we can define the two-dimensional discrete unitary Fourier and Hartley transforms [6], [14], u31 by Fourier: v ~ ( k , l= )
1 nr
1.

-1

0 O 0

0 O 0

Oi
0 0

and
-1
-l\

N-1 N-1

u(m,n)
m=O n=O

Since -3th the Fourier an u-tley transforms in this example have four nonzero elements, u(m,n)is in each case expressible as a sum of four basis images as given in (18). For the Fourier case, this gives

and
~

Hartley:

w ~ ( k , l= )

N-1 N-1

1 u(m,n)
N

-(%
. (15)

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 j 1 1 j +(-j)q 1 j

m=O n=O

x cas

27r (mk -I-

'" 1

I, I)

-1 -1 -1

-j -j -j

Two-dimensional discrete transformation is equivalent to an expansion of u(m,n)in terms of the N 2 basis images Tk,l,O 5 k , l 5 N - 1, each of size N x N, where the elements of the k,Zth basis image Tk,l are

(l j -1 /1 -1 1 - l \

-)
393

+ ( - l ) L [4 1 -l ' -1

1 -1) -1

=N N DHT: T e l ( m , n ) - cas 27r ( m k + n z ) ] .(17)

1 -1 1 -1 1 - j -1 j + ( d Z1 , - j -1 j ) 1 (
1 -j -1
j

VILLASENOR: OPTICAL HARTLEY TRANSFORMS

as
UF(k, l)Tc,lt

+ U&(N k, N - -!)T;-k!,N-1( +W H ( N - IC,

N - l)T;4,
,NA,.

= vff (IC, l)T&

(23)
1 1 -1 + ( l ) i (1 1 -1 1 l 1 1 -1 1 -1 1 1 -1 -1 1 -1 1 -1 -1 -1 -1) -1 1 -1 1 -1 1 -1) 1 -1 -1 1

For continuous transforms, evaluation of F(u,u) and H ( u ,w) at any location (U, 0) will satisfy

F(u, w) exp [27r(ux+ vy)]

+&(-U,

-v)exp[27r(-uz

- vy)]

= H(u, 0)cas [27r(ua wy)]

+ H ( -U,

-U) cas [27r(-UZ - vy)].

(24)

+(q
1 -1 -1

4 1 - 1 - -l 11) 1 1

It is because of this equivalence that the expressions (10) and (12) relating the Fourier and Hartley transforms involve only the field values at origin-symmetric locations, and that optical devices for converting the Fourier transform to the Hartley transform can be simply constructed.

Although corresponding basis images (i.e., TEl and TF,l, where k = k and 1 = 1) for the Fourier and Hartley transforms are in general different, the members of each pair can be further decomposed into a combination of the same set of even and odd images derived using the discretized version of the C- and S-transforms introduced in (3) and (4). For example, for the ( k = 0,l = 1) pair

IMPLEMENTATIONS 111. OPTICAL

The Fourier transform relationship between the two focal planes of a lens is well-known. If a coherently illuminated input with transmittance f(x,y) is placed at the front focal plane of a thin lens with focal length fl, then the field at the back focal plane (u,v) of the lens [4] will be

x exp -j-(U.

+ vy)

dxdy. (25)

1 1 -1 1 1 1 -1

-1 -1) -1

1 0 - 1 0 = ( l )1 1 l 0 - -1 0 Z( 0 1 o) 1 0 - 1 0

Unit amplitude, normally incident radiation of wavelength A is assumed. F ( u ,v), the Fourier transform of f (x, is y), related to the light distribution W(U, at the back focal U) plane by

1 1 -1 -1 0 1 0 - 1 1 0 1 0 - 1 + ( l ) q 0 1 0 -1 (o 1 0

In terms of the matrices on the right side of (21) and (22), both transforms represent the same expansion. One can consider the differences between the transform coefficients in V F ( I C , I and w ~ ( kE ,) as arising from the different way in which To,land T& (or in general any basis image pair) are

E,

constructed in (21) and (22). The consequence of this is that while a single transform domain measurement at (IC, E) of the Fourier transform will not contain the same information as the measurement at the corresponding location of the Hartley transform, i.e.,
VF(IC,

z)T;,l,# vff(k, l)T&

the correspondence between origin-symmetric pairs of samples is complete. In a discrete formulation, this is stated
394

Even when f ( x , y ) is real (i.e., when it modifies the intensity but not the phase of incident radiation), the Fourier transform represented by W(u,v) will be complex, corresponding to the physical interpretation that the time phase of the radiation at the output plane will not be spatially uniform. Square-law detection of the Fourier transform will lose the information regarding these phase variations. An optical Hartley transformer can be regarded as an instrument that converts this Hermitian-symmetric field with intensity and phase variations into an isophase, nonsymmetric field where all information is encoded as amplitude. The key in constructing the Hartley transform is obtaining and properly superimposing onto F(u,w) a rotated Fourier transform F ( - U , -w) as described in (10). Optical Hartley transform arrangements differ most fundamentally in how F ( - U , -U) is obtained and brought to the output plane. One of the simplest arrangements is shown in Fig. 1. In this modified Michelson interferometer, the input with
PROCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE, VOL. 82. NO. 3, MARCH 1994

 i
Input
Ll

$
*. a .

Y
D

ll
M?

L2

output

Fig. 2. An input with transmittance zero except over a disc of radius R centered at ( a , 6).

Fig. 1. Optical system for taking the Hartley transform of an input in the (z, plane using lenses L1 and L2 of focal lengthf, y) mirrors M I and M2, beamsplitter B , and delay D.The transform appears at the output.

transmission factor f(x,y) is placed in the back focal plane (x,y) of lens L1 and coherently illuminated from behind. The portion of the beam which reaches mirror M I is then redirected by the beamsplitter B to form (with scaling as described in (26)) the Fourier transform F ( u , w) at the output plane. The part of the incident radiation that is reflected at the initial encounter with the beamsplitter is directed through lens L2 which performs a Fourier transform of F ( u , w ) , producing at mirror M2 a rotated copy of the object f(-x, -y). After reflection from Mz, the beam passes again through L z , through the beamsplitter, and onto the output plane, where it contributes the rotated Fourier transform F(-U,--2)). In effect, F(-u,-w) is created through three consecutive Fourier transforms (one performed by L1 and the second two by L z ) of the input. The variable delay D is adjusted to produce the 7r/4 relative and phase between F(u,w) F(-u,-v) required by (10). As mentioned earlier the complex constant exp (j7r/4)/d only affects the scaling of the result and can be dealt with in combination with the other scaling factors by a single multiplication. The interferometer of Fig. 1 can be constructed [SI, and a test input (Fig. 2) consisting of a circular aperture of radius R centered at ( a ,b) on an opaque field can be used to confirm properties of the analog Hartley transform. When centered at the origin, this input has identical Hartley and Fourier transforms proportional to jinc ZRq, where jinc q, the two-dimensional Fourier transform of a circular pupil of unit diameter, is given by jinc q = 51(7rq)/2q and q = is the radial coordinate in the (u,w)-plane I . When the disc is shifted from the origin to ( a ,b) (Fig. 2) the Fourier transform acquires a multiplicative phase factor exp[-i27r(au bw)] but this shift has no effect on the Fourier magnitude, since only a phase gradient is created on the ( U , w)-plane. Consequently, a photograph taken in the Fourier transform plane (Fig. 3) cannot distinguish between a centered disc and a displaced one. The Hartley transform in this case responds to the shift [6] by acquiring a multiplicative factor cas [ZT(UU bw)], which does affect the magnitude. Figure 4 shows the Hartley intensity corresponding to the displaced disc. The jinc function factor,

Fig. 3. Fourier intensity of the input in Fig. 2.

Jw
+

Fig. 4. Hartley intensity of the input in Fig. 2. The Hartley intensity encodes the Fourier phase in the form of fringes whose orientation indicates the direction arctan ( b / a ) of displacement and whose period is inversely proportional to the displacement d = d w .

indicated by the concentric null rings centered on (U = 0, w = 0) provides the origin indication mentioned above. In addition to the ring structure, this Hartley transform has fringes due to multiplication by a properly oriented cas function whose frequency and orientation are determined by the displacement. The eccentricity of the fringes illustrates the absence of symmetry that characterizes the Hartley transform and which effectively enables the phase information to be
395

VILLASENOR: OWICAL HARTLEY TRANSFORMS

encoded as amplitude. For the input chosen in Fig. 2, the observed Hartley transform clearly indicates the magnitude y)-origin and and direction of the displacement from the (x, serves as an example of information which is preserved in the Hartley intensity but lost in the Fourier intensity. While the Hartley interferometer of Fig. 1 has the advantage of requiring very simple optical components, the presence of the beamsplitter and mirror near the output plane means that the propagation distances from L1 and L2 to the output cannot be exactly one focal length. If the focal region were vanishingly thin it would be necessary for M I , B , and the output to all occupy the same point in space, which is clearly impossible in Fig. 1. The actual depth of the focal region is nonzero and depends on the lens focal length to diameter ratio f / D , and if this ratio is large, the longitudinal dimension of the focal region becomes sufficient to permit the displacement shown in Fig. 1. For the input image and interferometer dimensions used in the above example, these displacements are permissible, but for a transform with very fine structure this arrangement may not be practical. Other methods for obtaining the optical Hartley transform exist which solve this difficulty at the expense of slightly more complex equipment. Bracewell [6] has suggested the two other arrangements shown in Figs. 5 and 6. In Fig. 5, the diffracted field propagates a total of one focal length from L to M , back to B, and then to the output plane as F(u,v). The cube comer C rotates the other beam of the transform by 180", furnishing the transform F ( - U , -w). This arrangement allows precise placement of the transforms on the output plane, but involves higher complexity in the initial transformer adjustment because of the large number of degrees of freedom in placement of the cube comer. In Fig. 6, the rotation is achieved by flipping each of the two beams around mutually perpendicular axes, resulting in a 90" rotation of the output plane relative to Fig. 5.

Fig. 5. Altemative arrangement for performing the Hartley transform proposed by Bracewell. In this transformer image rotation is accomplished using a cube comer.

Fig. 6. A Hartley transformer employing a pair of roof prisms for image rotation.

IV. HOLOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUES AND

THE SIGN AMBIGUITY

A. Hologram Formation

The purely real nature of the Hartley transform is an advantage in analog systems because many detectors are insensitive to phase. Phase-blind detectors are by definition ignorant of sign and introduce an ambiguity when recording a Hartley transform having regions of both positive and negative values. Although this sign ambiguity is much less serious than the phase problem of the Fourier transform because the number of potential solutions at each location is two instead of infinite, it must be resolved if complete information about the nature of the input is desired. For most inputs, the sign ambiguity can be resolved in theory by using an intensity record of the Hartley transform in which sign information has been lost. By interpreting areas of zero (within the noise range) intensity as locations of sign reversal (with proper attention to the possibility
396

that the field could in unusual cases reach zero without switching sign), every region of the intensity record can be described as either positive or negative. To recover the value of the transform it then remains to take the square root of the intensity and assign the appropriate sign [ 161. For relatively simple transforms containing fringe systems or ringlobes in which the sign altemation is obvious this method is straightforward and reliable. However, for transforms having finer structure, the fringes and nulls which identify sign reversals may be too faint or fine to be useful, and noise may make identification of null contours difficult. Computer algorithms operating on digitized records of highly structured transforms can also be envisioned. There are an infinite number of paths which connect any two points PI and P2 on a plane, yet the number of zero crossings encountered along these paths should either always be even or always be odd, depending on the sign relationship between the two locations in question. By starting at a reference point somewhere on the transform, this path independence could be used to generate and verify every sign decision. A priori knowledge regarding finite support or expected size scales and characteristics of input and transform features could also be used. The sign ambiguity can be completely resolved if a dc offset is added to the Hartley transform prior to recording on an intensity-only medium. Mathematically, the advantage afforded by an isophase reference is obvious-if a Hartley transform H ( u ,U ) with positive and negative excursions is
PROCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE, VOL. 82, NO. 3, MARCH 1994

U
Input
M3

output

M,

Fig. 7. System for superimposing a dc reference signal onto the transform, allowing the positive and negative regions of the transform to be distinguished.

Fig. 8. Hartley transform of a displaced disc (the displacement is different than that used in Figs. 2 4 ) after addition of a weak reference beam using the arrangment of Fig. 7. Some negative regions remain near the center of the transform.

modified to P(u,w) = H ( u ,w) I the result will be a positive, real distribution, provided that the constant term I is sufficiently large. The addition of even a small constant provides valuable information. Given two records-ne of the Hartley transform and one of the transform plus a small Constant-positive and negative regions can easily be distinguished by their different responses to the added constant. Figure 7 shows a system for introducing an isophase reference onto the Hartley plane. A beamsplitter deflects part of the light toward mirror M3. After reflection off M4, this beam is re-introduced into the Hartley transformer with the use of a third beamsplitter B3. If the components M3, M4, and B3 are correctly adjusted, the reference beam will appear to an observer at the output plane to originate at (x = 0, y = 0). Because the light canying the transform and the light carrying the reference are separated into two paths between B2 and B3, their relative intensities may be easily adjusted. Care must also be taken in practice to assure that the phase of I is consistent with that of the transform. This can be accomplished by inserting a variable delay in the reference beam path. Figure 8 shows the Hartley transform of a displaced disc (the displacement here is different than that shown in Fig. 2) with a weak isophase reference added. The negative excursions in the first ringlobe have been brought to zero as shown by the light/dark banding, but small negative excursions persist in the central maximum. Positive fringes in the central region have become brighter while negative fringes have been reduced, resulting in a characteristic alternating pattern. Figure 9 shows the result of adding an isophase reference with strength just sufficient to elevate the most negative portions of the transform to zero intensity. This is a nonlinear Hartley hologram which fails to satisfy I >> IH(u,v)l; nevertheless, provided that the strength I of the reference is known, complete information about the sign and magnitude of H ( u ,w) can be deduced from the picture. Increasing the strength of the reference beam further results
VILLASENOR: OPTICAL HARTLEY TRANSFORMS

Fig. 9. Hartley transform of a displaced disc after addition of a stronger reference beam. All regions of the transform are now nonnegative.

in a linear Hartley hologram in which all regions of the transform' are well above zero.

B. Object Reconstruction
An analog record of I P ( ~ , U ) ~ ~ , P(u,w) = where I, and I >> lH(u,w)l,enables reconstruction of the input f ( z , y ) as follows. Placing I P ( U , V ) ~ the at ~ input of a Hartley transformer, and referring to (lo), the field at the output will then be the superposition of two Fourier transforms of P(u,U), one rotated 180' with respect to the other. Denoting the Fourier transform operator by F and initially allowing the phase adjustment a in the reconstructing transformer to be arbitrary, the field g(z,y) at the output is

H(u,w)

391

physical quantity of interest in diffraction is the electric field E as a function of time, which is a purely real entity. When we denote this field by the Fourier transform F ( u ,w), what we imply is the phasor representation

E ( u ,U , t) = PpRe [ F ( u w)ejwt] , = PFRe [ F ( u v)]cos ut ,

and substituting (28) into (27) gives g(z, y) = 2 1 e j ( * / 4 - a / 2 ) *cos
f(X,Y)

- PFIm

[F(u, v)]sinut

(30)

(4(29)

7T

where PF is a real constant embodying propagation losses and other scaling factors. One could also use the Hartley transform H ( u ,w) to describe the field, with the implication that

+ 212S(z,y).

E ( u ,21, t) = PHEven [ H ( u , coswt w)] - PHodd [ H ( u U)] sin ut. ,

(31)

If the Hartley transformer used in the reconstruction is correctly adjusted to that a = ~ / 2 the second term in , (29) will vanish, and the field at the output will satisfy
g(z, Y) = 2 1 f ( z ,Y>

+ 2I2%

Similarly, the square-law detected diffraction pattern intensity I(u,w) observed by our eyes and other phase-blind detectors is represented by the Fourier transform as

Y).

The reconstructed image will therefore differ from the original f ( z ,y) only in the neighborhood of (z = 0, y = 0), where a small bright Airy pattem due to the reference beam will occur. If the Hartley transformer phase a is set incorrectly, both f(z, and f ( - z , -y) will appear supery) imposed at the output, with relative intensities described by tan (cy - 7r/2). The appearance of f ( z , y ) and f(-z, -y) at the output suggests comparison with a Fourier hologram recorded after addition of an angled reference beam to the Fourier transform F(u,v). When a Fourier hologram is reconstructed via the Fourier transform, both the object f ( a ,y) and the conjugate image f(-z, -y) are present in the back focal plane of the lens, displaced to opposite sides of the bright spot due to the reference beam. A phase-misadjusted Hartley transformer will therefore yield a Hartley hologram reconstruction that is identical to the reconstruction obtained from a Fourier hologram. A crucial difference is that the Hartley transform allows recording and reconstruction of a full-plane input whereas the requirement in Fourier holography that the reference beam be off-axis is equivalent to restricting the input to a half plane.

I ( %U ) = P F I Re [ F ( %U ) ] l2

+ P F IIm

IF(& l2 w)]

(32)

or by the Hartley transform as

I ( %U ) = P H [Even [ H ( %U ) ] 1

+ P H 1 o d d [ H ( %U)].1
(33)

v.

OPTICAL DIFFRACTION THE HARTLEY AND TRANSFORM

An important question regarding the Hartley transform concerns the apparent simplicity of a Fourier transformer (i.e., a lens) contrasted with the more complicated apparatus needed to obtain the Hartley transform. After all, the statement that a lens performs a Fourier transform is regarded as fundamental to optics and diffraction theory, and one might be tempted to conclude from this that the Fourier transform is more fundamental than the Hartley transform and better able to describe natural phenomena. However, when we say that the electrical field at the back focal plane of a coherently illuminated lens is complex, what we really mean is that two parameters (magnitude and phase) are needed to describe the sinusoidal oscillation of the electric field at each location. Stated another way, the
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While the elegance of complex arithmetic coupled with years of practice and habit has led to the Fourier-based diffraction description in universal use today, there is nothing in diffraction that requires a complex mathematical framework. This issue is not one of semantics only, because in the world of digital transforms it has led to awkward algorithmic gymnastics in connection with real-valued FFTs and other techniques for shoehoming the complex Fourier transform into problems involving real data. An understanding of the relationship between the physical phenemona concerned and the mathematical tools used to describe them will allow both conceptual and computational simplification in future applications of analog transforms. The compelling illustration of the front cover of this issue provides an example of the power of Hartley techniques in optical diffraction. The figure shows the Hartley transform of an Archimedean spiral with 16 turns. Blue and orange indicate positive and negative transform values, respectively, and the horizontal and vertical axis scales differ by a factor of two. As with all real functions, the Archimedean spiral produces a diffraction pattem with an intensity 1(u,w) that is symmemc about the origin, satisfying I ( u , v ) = I(-u, -v). The dominant feature of the diffraction pattern, which is illustrated by this Hartley transform, is the regular ringlobe structure. Eight of these ringlobes are fully or partially shown, occumng at a spacing that is inversely proportional to the pitch of the spiral. The kth ringlobe is composed of a spiral with 2k starts, with the new spiral starts appearing in the dark regions between ringlobes [18]. The alternative locations of these dark regions (right, left, right, etc., as one moves out from the center) communicates information about the phase structure of the diffraction pattem. For example, in the right half of
PROCEEDINGS OF THE IEEE, VOL. 82, NO. 3, MARCH 1994

the annulus lying between the first and second ringlobes the phase of the diffraction pattem altemates rapidly between . - ~ / 4and 3 ~ 1 4 In the annulus between the second and third ringlobes, the phase altemates rapidly between x/4 and - 3 ~ 1 4 .While all of these features of the diffraction pattem could be determined by taking the Fourier transform and studying the two images (magnitude and phase) needed to represent it, they are communicated in a direct, intuitive, and complete manner in a single image using-the Hartley transform.

VI. CONCLUSION The Hartley transform expands a function f ( z , y ) in terms of real sines and cosines instead of the complex exponentials used in Fourier expansions [7], [17]. This is a particular advantage in analog implementations because of the difficulties that arise in recording the complex diffraction pattem associated with the Fourier transform of real functions. A variety of optical arrangements exist for the analog Hartley transform, allowing signal processing tasks such as convolution and correlation to be performed in a transform domain characterized by purely real data. Intensity-only records of Hartley transforms have a sign ambiguity rather than the phase ambiguity introduced in the Fourier transform. The sign ambiguity is easily resolved for one-dimensional inputs generating transforms with clearly identifiable sign reversals, and in two-dimensional transforms a zero-level contour almost always indicates a change of sign. In the general case, switching of a weak isophase reference beam serving as a dc offset allows sign determination. Another altemative is holographic recording using a stronger reference, with holographic reconstruction then accomplished using another Hartley transform. While Fourier holograms are restricted to half-plane inputs, Hartley holography permits reconstruction of full-plane inputs provided that the phase adjustment is correct.

[3] F. Zemike, Das Phasenkontrastverfahren bei der Mikroskopischen Beobachtung, Z. Tech. Phys., vol. 16, p. 454, 1935. [4] J. W. Goodman, Introduction to Fourier Optics. New York: Academic Press, 1970. [5] D. Gabor, A new microscope principle, Nature, vol. 161, pp. 777-8, 1948. [6] R. N. Bracewell, The Hartley Transform. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1986. [7] -, Assessing the Hartley transform, IEEE Trans. Acoust., Speech, Signal Process., vol. 38, pp. 2174-2176, 1990. [8] J. D. Villasenor, and R. N. Bracewell Optical phase obtained by analogue Hartley transformation, Nature vol. 330, pp. 735-737, 1987. Lensless microwave imaging using the Hartley trans[9] -, form, Nature vol. 335, pp. 617-619, 1988. [lo] R. N. Bracewell, Aspects of the Hartley transform, this issue, pp. xxx-xxx. [ I l l V. R. Algazi and D. J. Sakrison, On the optimality of the Karhunen-Loeve expansion, IEEE Trans. Informat. Theory pp. 319-321, 1969. [ 121 A. K. Jain, Fundamentals of Digital Image Processing. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1989, p. 140. [13] J. D. Villasenor and R. N. Bracewell, Vectorized Hartley transform, Electron. Letr., vol. 25, no. 17, 1988. [14] R. N. Bracewell, 0. Buneman, H. Hao, and J. D. Villasenor, Fast two-dimensional Hartley transforms, Proc. IEEE, vol. 74, pp. 1283-1284, 1986. [ 151 R. N. Bracewell, The Fourier Transform and its Applications, 2nd. ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1986, p. 16. [ 161 R. H. T. Bates and M. J. McDonnel, Image Restoration and Reconstruction. London, UK: Clarendon Press, 1986. [17] R. N. Bracewell, Physical aspects of the Hartley transform, J. Atm. Terr. Phys., vol. 51, pp. 791-795, 1989. [18] R. N. Bracewell and J. D. Villasenor, Fraunhofer diffraction by a spiral slit, J . Opt. Soc. Amer., vol. 7, pp. 21-25, 1990.

REFERENCES
[ I ] R. W. Gerchberg and W. 0. Saxton, A practical algorithm for the determination of phase from image and diffraction plane pictures, Optik, vol. 35, pp. 237-246, 1972. [2] J. Karle, Recovering phase information from intensity data, Nobel Prize acceptance address, Stockholm, Sweden, Dec. 9, 1985.

John D Villasenor (Member, IEEE) received the B.S. degree from the University of Virginia in 1985, the M.S. degree from Stanford University in 1986, and the Ph.D. degree also from Stanford in 1989, all in electrical engineering. He has held postdoctoral appointments at Stanford and at CERFACS in Toulouse, France. From 1990 to 1992 , he was with the Radar Science and Engineering section of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, where he applied synthetic-aperture radar to interferometric mapping, classification, and temporal change measurement. He is currently Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles, and is conducting research on still-frame and video image compression, processing and interpretation of satellite remote sensing images, and development of fast algorithms for one- and two-dimensional spectral analysis.

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