Note on the classification of super-resolution in far-field microscopy and information theory.

In recent years, several far-field microscopy techniques have been developed which manage to overcome the diffraction limit of resolution. A unifying classification scheme for them is clearly desirable. We argue that existing schemes based on the information capacity of the optical system cannot easily be extended to cover, e.g., stimulated emission depletion microscopy or techniques based on single-molecule imaging. We suggest a classification based on a reconstruction of the Abbe limit.