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W. A. Traub (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
The scientific prospects and technical practicalities of optical and infrared interferometry are surveyed. The scientific prospects for interferometry include previously unrealizable observations such as the detection and characterization of extrasolar planets, imaging of stars and their environments, kinematic measurements of stars throughout our Galaxy as well as nearby galaxies, and the detection of faint exo-zodiacal emission around nearby stars. The technical practicalities of interferometry center on the challenge of developing instrumentation which is not only reliable at sub-wavelength tolerances but which in several notable instances has required the invention of some truly remarkable instrumental innovations in wavefront control.