Multifluorophore localization as a percolation problem: limits to density and precision

We show that the maximum desirable density of activated fluorophores in a superresolution experiment can be determined by treating the overlapping point spread functions as a problem in percolation theory. We derive a bound on the density of activated fluorophores, taking into account the desired localization accuracy and precision, as well as the number of photons emitted. Our bound on density is close to that reported in experimental work, suggesting that further increases in the density of imaged fluorophores will come at the expense of localization accuracy and precision.