  Finesse is a fast interferometer simulation program. For a given optical
setup, it computes the light field amplitudes at every point in the
interferometer assuming a steady state. To do so, the interferometer
description is translated into a set of linear equations that are solved
numerically. For convenience, a number of standard analyses can be performed
automatically by the program, namely computing modulation-demodulation error
signals, transfer functions, shot-noise-limited sensitivities, and beam shapes.
Finesse can perform the analysis using the plane-wave approximation or
Hermite-Gauss modes. The latter allows computation of the properties of optical
systems like telescopes and the effects of mode matching and mirror angular
positions.
