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Any Beamsplitter Generates Universal Quantum Linear Optics

Adam Bouland, Scott Aaronson

Published Oct 24, 2013• 1 citation
OpenAlex

Abstract

In 1994, Reck et al. showed how to realize any linear-optical unitary transformation using a product of beamsplitters and phaseshifters. Here we show that any single beamsplitter that nontrivially mixes two modes, also densely generates the set of m × m unitary transformations (or orthogonal transformations, in the real case) on m ≥ 3 modes. (We prove the same result for any 2-mode real optical gate, and for any 2-mode optical gate combined with a generic phaseshifter.) Experimentally, this means that one does not need tunable beamsplitters or phaseshifters for universality: any nontrivial beamsplitter is universal. Theoretically, it means that one cannot produce “intermediate” models of quantum-optical computation (analogous to the Clifford group for qubits) by restricting the allowed beamsplitters and phaseshifters: there is a dichotomy; one either gets a trivi al set or else a universal set. No similar classification theorem for gates acting on qubits is currently know n. We leave open the problem of classifying optical gates that act on 3 or more modes.

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In 1994, Reck et al. showed how to realize any linear-optical unitary transformation using a product of beamsplitters and phaseshifters. Here we show that any single beamsplitter that nontrivially mixes two modes, also densely generates the set of m × m unitary transformations (or orthogonal transformations, in the real case) on m ≥ 3 modes. (We prove the same result for any 2-mode real optical gate, and for any 2-mode optical gate combined with a generic phaseshifter.) Experimentally, this means that one does not need tunable beamsplitters or phaseshifters for universality: any nontrivial beamsplitter is universal. Theoretically, it means that one cannot produce “intermediate” models of quantum-optical computation (analogous to the Clifford group for qubits) by restricting the allowed beamsplitters and phaseshifters: there is a dichotomy; one either gets a trivi al set or else a universal set. No similar classification theorem for gates acting on qubits is currently know n. We leave open the problem of classifying optical gates that act on 3 or more modes.
We consider the problem of building an arbitrary N × N real orthogonal operator using a finite set, S, of elementary quantum optics gates operating on m ≤ N modes - the problem of universality of S on N modes. In particular, we focus on the universality problem of an m-mode beamsplitter. Using methods of control theory and some properties of rotations in three dimensions, we prove that any nontrivial real 2-mode and ‘almost’ any nontrivial real 3-mode beamsplitter is universal on m ≥ 3 modes.
For numerous applications of quantum theory it is desirable to be able to apply arbitrary unitary operations on a given quantum system. However, in particular situations only a subset of unitary operations is easily accessible. This raises the question of what additional unitary gates should be added to a given gate set in order to attain physical universality, i.e., to be able to perform arbitrary unitary transformation on the relevant Hilbert space. In this work, we study this problem for three paradigmatic cases of naturally occurring restricted gate sets: (A) particle-number preserving bosonic linear optics, (B) particle-number preserving fermionic linear optics, and (C) general (not necessarily particle-number preserving) fermionic linear optics. Using tools from group theory and control theory, we classify, in each of these scenarios, what sets of gates are generated, if an additional gate is added to the set of allowed transformations. This allows us to solve the universality problem completely for arbitrary number of particles and for arbitrary dimensions of the single-particle Hilbert space.
Linear optics is a promising physical architecture for the implementation of the quantum computing devices. The key element of the linear optical quantum computer is an optical circuit realizing the sequence of transformations defined by the required quantum algorithm. The most prominent approach is the reconfigurable integrated photonics which allows to miniaturize standard optical setups on the chosen integrated photonic platform. In this paper, we propose a universal linear-optical circuit design comprised of the series of multiport beamsplitters followed by the phaseshifting elements. The proposed unitary composer device can be straightforwardly implemented using standard integrated photonic technologies. We provide guidelines for appropriate multiport beamsplitter fabrication using integrated waveguide lattices. To exemplify the performance of the composer we provide the six-mode CNOT linear optical gate circuit design fitted to described interferometric circuit.
A large number of applications in classical and quantum photonics require the capability of implementing arbitrary linear unitary transformations on a set of optical modes. In a seminal work by Reck et al. it was shown how to build such multiport universal interferometers with a mesh of beam splitters and phase shifters, and this design became the basis for most experimental implementations in the last decades. However, the design of Reck et al. is difficult to scale up to a large number of modes, which would be required for many applications. Here we present a constructive proof that it is possible to realize a multiport universal interferometer on N modes with a succession of 6N Fourier transforms and 6N+1 phase masks, for any even integer N. Furthermore, we provide an algorithm to find the correct succesion of Fourier transforms and phase masks to realize a given arbitrary unitary transformation. Since Fourier transforms and phase masks are routinely implemented in several optical setups and they do not suffer from the scalability issues associated with building extensive meshes of beam splitters, we believe that our design can be useful for many applications in photonics.
The unitary evolution of linear optics can be used to model quantum computational networks. In this paper, a quantum simulation of a classically chaotic map (the baker's map) is developed using linear optics. Two different models are presented. The first model employs only 50-50 beam splitters and phase shifters to simulate universal 2-qubit gates of a quantum computer. The second model uses the discrete Fourier transform generated by symmetric $N\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}N$ fiber couplers. If single photons are used as inputs for these linear optics models, the result is a physical realization of the quantum baker's map.