[alma-config] Near-in sidelobes

[Bryan Butler]

john wrote:

> 
> I would contend that The spiral array is a close as can be to being
> optimised for NEAR-IN sidelobes, since the uv density distribution is 
> very  close to gaussian (see figure). 

to which i reply:

your statement above implies that gaussian u-v coverage is "optimized for
near-in sidelobes".  i would hesitate to make this leap.  nobody
has shown that this is the case, and i think in any case that it
would depend on your definition of "optimization of near-in sidelobes",
including the definition of "near-in", which is pretty fuzzy, methinks...

while it might be true that the spiral has better near-in sidelobe
behavior than the donut (by some metric), i would hesitate to make as
strong a statement as john has above (essentially that the spiral is
as good as it gets for near-in sidelobes, because it is as close as
you can get to gaussian and gaussian is optimal)...

	-bryan