Sensitivity analysis of parameter determination from measurements of directly measurable quantities using the Jacobian

The sensitivity of the parameter determination from measurements of directly measurable quantities is the Jacobian of the inverse mapping. The Jacobian also detects the ambiguities due to nonconformal mappings by changing its sign. The Jacobian formalism applied to phase-shift interferometry shows that this method does not have ambiguities due to nonconformal mappings and reachs its maximum sensitivity for equidistant phase shifts covering the whole range (0,2 pi). (C) 1996 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.