Abstract: A differential equation method is applied to the design of a three-mirror telescope. The resulting system is mostly free of spherical aberration, coma and astigmatism. From caustic theory and a generalization of the Coddington Equations, the Abbe sine condition and the constant optical path length condition, three coupled differential equations, one for each reflecting surface, are generated. A system which satisfies these conditions will have a high resolution over a wide field of view. Analysis of this application is presented as a comparison to a similar three-mirror telescope system produced by conventional optimization techniques. !9
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