Intensity interferometry, based on the Hanbury Brown–Twiss effect, is a simple and inexpensive method for optical interferometry at microarcsecond angular resolutions; its use in astronomy was abandoned in the 1970s because of low sensitivity. Motivated by recent technical developments, we argue that the sensitivity of large modern intensity interferometers can be improved by factors up to approximately 25 000, corresponding to 11 photometric magnitudes, compared to the pioneering Narrabri Stellar Interferometer. This is made possible by (i) using avalanche photodiodes (APD) as light detectors, (ii) distributing the light received from the source over multiple independent spectral channels, and (iii) use of arrays composed of multiple large light collectors. Our approach permits the construction of large (with baselines ranging from few kilometers to intercontinental distances) optical interferometers at the cost of (very) long-baseline radio interferometers. Realistic intensity interferometer designs are able to achieve limiting R-band magnitudes as good as mR ≈ 14, sufficient for spatially resolved observations of main-sequence O-type stars in the Magellanic Clouds. Multi-channel intensity interferometers can address a wide variety of science cases: (i) linear radii, effective temperatures, and luminosities of stars, via direct measurements of stellar angular sizes; (ii) mass–radius relationships of compact stellar remnants, via direct measurements of the angular sizes of white dwarfs; (iii) stellar rotation, via observations of rotation flattening and surface gravity darkening; (iv) stellar convection and the interaction of stellar photospheres and magnetic fields, via observations of dark and bright starspots; (v) the structure and evolution of multiple stars, via mapping of the companion stars and of accretion flows in interacting binaries; (vi) direct measurements of interstellar distances, derived from angular diameters of stars or via the interferometric Baade–Wesselink method; (vii) the physics of gas accretion onto supermassive black holes, via resolved observations of the central engines of luminous active galactic nuclei; and (viii) calibration of amplitude interferometers by providing a sample of calibrator stars.

We demonstrate optical cross-sectional imaging system implemented with high-resolution interferometry and present oral diagnostic imaging results obtained without any physical sectioning. High-resolution interferometry could be performed with utilizing broadband optical source and employment of beam scanning device to high-resolution interferometer constitutes optical imaging system for non-invasive cross-sectional view at real-time. The optical imaging system is implemented with fiber-optic devices for compactness and optical probe head is realized by using single mode optical fiber and miniaturized actuator, which is properly designed for the application to dental imaging. The basic performance of the optical imaging system, for example, such as resolution, imaging depth, and sensitivity is suggested to prove high-resolution optical imaging performance. Feasibility of the developed optical imaging system performance in the application of dental diagnostic is proved with demonstrating non-invasively obtained cross-sectional images. The imaging quality suggested in the images could be applied to assessment of oral diseases and used for alternative imaging modality to X-ray diagnostic method overcoming disadvantage of low-image resolution. The imaging performance enabling real-time image reconstruction also could be exploited as early oral diagnostic apparatus prior to microscopic observation under H&E staining.

Observations with milliarsecond resolution using the Navy Optical Interferometer have been obtained for a number of stellar systems which include high-mass binaries, eclipsing binaries, and radio stars. These observations also reveal the previously unseen companions in single-lined spectroscopic binaries via directly measured flux ratios. We will present examples of published and ongoing research efforts of these systems to illustrate how an optical interferometer contrib\-utes to our knowledge of stars, their environment, and companions. These studies include a conclusive revealing of the previously unseen companion in the single-lined binary Φ Herculis, the direct determination of orbital parameters in the wide and close orbits of Algol, and revealing the orbit of β Lyrae with spatially resolved images of the Hα emission.