Sampling the distribution of bosons that have undergone a random unitary evolution is strongly believed to be a computationally hard problem. Key to outperforming classical simulations of this task is to increase both the number of input photons and the size of the network. We propose driven boson sampling, in which photons are input within the network itself, as a means to approach this goal. We show that the mean number of photons entering a boson sampling experiment can exceed one photon per input mode, while maintaining the required complexity, potentially leading to less stringent requirements on the input states for such experiments. When using heralded single-photon sources based on parametric down-conversion, this approach offers an ∼e-fold enhancement in the input state generation rate over scattershot boson sampling, reaching the scaling limit for such sources. This approach also offers a dramatic increase in the signal-to-noise ratio with respect to higher-order photon generation from such probabilistic sources, which removes the need for photon number resolution during the heralding process as the size of the system increases.
Sampling the distribution of bosons that have undergone a random unitary evolution is strongly believed to be a computationally hard problem. Key to outperforming classical simulations of this task is to increase both the number of input photons and the size of the network. We propose driven boson sampling, in which photons are input within the network itself, as a means to approach this goal. We show that the mean number of photons entering a boson sampling experiment can exceed one photon per input mode, while maintaining the required complexity, potentially leading to less stringent requirements on the input states for such experiments. When using heralded single-photon sources based on parametric down-conversion, this approach offers an ∼e-fold enhancement in the input state generation rate over scattershot boson sampling, reaching the scaling limit for such sources. This approach also offers a dramatic increase in the signal-to-noise ratio with respect to higher-order photon generation from such probabilistic sources, which removes the need for photon number resolution during the heralding process as the size of the system increases.
Boson sampling is a computational task strongly believed to be hard for classical computers, but efficiently solvable by orchestrated bosonic interference in a specialized quantum computer. Current experimental schemes, however, are still insufficient for a convincing demonstration of the advantage of quantum over classical computation. A new variation of this task, scattershot boson sampling, leads to an exponential increase in speed of the quantum device, using a larger number of photon sources based on parametric down-conversion. This is achieved by having multiple heralded single photons being sent, shot by shot, into different random input ports of the interferometer. We report the first scattershot boson sampling experiments, where six different photon-pair sources are coupled to integrated photonic circuits. We use recently proposed statistical tools to analyze our experimental data, providing strong evidence that our photonic quantum simulator works as expected. This approach represents an important leap toward a convincing experimental demonstration of the quantum computational supremacy.
Boson Sampling is a computational task strongly believed to be hard for classical computers, but efficiently solvable by orchestrated bosonic interference in a specialised quantum computer. Current experimental schemes, however, are still insufficient for a convincing demonstration of the advantage of quantum over classical computation. A new variation of this task, Scattershot Boson Sampling, leads to an exponential increase in speed of the quantum device, using a larger number of photon sources based on parametric downconversion. This is achieved by having multiple heralded single photons being sent, shot by shot, into different random input ports of the interferometer. Here we report the first Scattershot Boson Sampling experiments, where six different photon-pair sources are coupled to integrated photonic circuits. We employ recently proposed statistical tools to analyse our experimental data, providing strong evidence that our photonic quantum simulator works as expected.This approach represents an important leap towards a convincing experimental demonstration of the quantum computational supremacy.
Multiphoton interference is at the very heart of quantum foundations and applications in quantum sensing and information processing. In particular, boson-sampling experiments have the potential to demonstrate quantum computational supremacy while relying on only multiphoton interference in linear optical interferometers. However, even when photonic losses are negligible, scalable experiments are challenged by the rapid decrease of the probability of the success of current schemes with probabilistic sources for a large number of single photons in each experimental sample. Remarkably, we show a boson sampling scheme in which the probability of success increases instead of decreasing with the number of input photons, eventually approaching a unit value even with nondeterministic sources. It is achieved by sampling measurements not only at the interferometer output but also over all the possible numbers of photons at each input port and, different from scattershot boson sampling, allowing a random number of occupied input ports from one experimental run to another. Therefore, these results provide an exciting route toward future demonstrations of quantum computational supremacy with scalable experimental resources.
A boson-sampling device is a quantum machine expected to perform tasks intractable for a classical computer, yet requiring minimal nonclassical resources as compared to full-scale quantum computers. Photonic implementations to date employed sources based on inefficient processes that only simulate heralded single-photon statistics when strongly reducing emission probabilities. Boson sampling with only single-photon input has thus never been realized. Here, we report on a boson-sampling device operated with a bright solid-state source of single-photon Fock states with high photon-number purity: the emission from an efficient and deterministic quantum dot-micropillar system is demultiplexed into three partially indistinguishable single photons, with a single-photon purity 1-g^{(2)}(0) of 0.990±0.001, interfering in a linear optics network. Our demultiplexed source is between 1 and 2 orders of magnitude more efficient than current heralded multiphoton sources based on spontaneous parametric down-conversion, allowing us to complete the boson-sampling experiment faster than previous equivalent implementations.
An important step for photonic quantum technologies is the demonstration of a quantum advantage through boson sampling. In order to prevent classical simulability of boson sampling, the photons need to be almost perfectly identical and almost without losses. These two requirements are connected through spectral filtering: improving one leads to a decrease of the other. A proven method of generating single photons is spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC). We explore the fundamental limits of several important SPDC sources and show that an optimal tradeoff between indistinguishability and losses can always be found. We conclude that a 50-photon scattershot boson-sampling experiment using SPDC sources is possible from a computational complexity point of view. To this end, we numerically optimize SPDC sources under the regime of weak pumping and with a single spatial mode.
Boson sampling is a well-defined task that is strongly believed to be intractable for classical computers, but can be efficiently solved by a specific quantum simulator. However, an outstanding problem for large-scale experimental boson sampling is the scalability. Here we report an experiment on boson sampling with photon loss, and demonstrate that boson sampling with a few photons lost can increase the sampling rate. Our experiment uses a quantum-dot-micropillar single-photon source demultiplexed into up to seven input ports of a 16×16 mode ultralow-loss photonic circuit, and we detect three-, four- and fivefold coincidence counts. We implement and validate lossy boson sampling with one and two photons lost, and obtain sampling rates of 187, 13.6, and 0.78 kHz for five-, six-, and seven-photon boson sampling with two photons lost, which is 9.4, 13.9, and 18.0 times faster than the standard boson sampling, respectively. Our experiment shows an approach to significantly enhance the sampling rate of multiphoton boson sampling.