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European Quantum Electronics Conference (EQEC)

Universal linear optics for quantum information processing

Jacques Carolan, C. Harrold, Chris Sparrow, Enrique Martín-López, N. J. Rusell, Joshua W. Silverstone, Peter Shadbolt, Nobuyuki Matsuda, M. Oguma, Mikitaka Itoh, Graham D. Marshall, Mark G. Thompson, Jonathan C. F. Matthews, Toshikazu Hashimoto, Jeremy L. O’Brien, Anthony Laing

Published Jun 21, 2015• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

Linear optics underpins fundamental tests of quantum mechanics and quantum technologies [1], as well as native protocols such as boson sampling. Here we experimentally demonstrate the longstanding goal of a single reprogrammable linear optical circuit that is sufficient to implement all possible linear optical protocols up to the size of that circuit [2].

Related papers

Universal linear optics

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Linear optics underpins fundamental tests of quantum mechanics and quantum technologies. We demonstrate a single reprogrammable optical circuit that is sufficient to implement all possible linear optical protocols up to the size of that circuit. Our six-mode universal system consists of a cascade of 15 Mach-Zehnder interferometers with 30 thermo-optic phase shifters integrated into a single photonic chip that is electrically and optically interfaced for arbitrary setting of all phase shifters, input of up to six photons, and their measurement with a 12-single-photon detector system. We programmed this system to implement heralded quantum logic and entangling gates, boson sampling with verification tests, and six-dimensional complex Hadamards. We implemented 100 Haar random unitaries with an average fidelity of 0.999 ± 0.001. Our system can be rapidly reprogrammed to implement these and any other linear optical protocol, pointing the way to applications across fundamental science and quantum technologies.

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Quantum computation with linear optics

Christoph Adami, Nicolas J. Cerf

We present a constructive method to translate small quantum circuits into their optical analogues, using linear components of present-day quantum optics technology only. These optical circuits perform precisely the computation that the quantum circuits are designed for, and can thus be used to test the performance of quantum algorithms. The method relies on the representation of several quantum bits by a single photon, and on the implementation of universal quantum gates using simple optical components (beam splitters, phase shifters, etc.). The optical implementation of Brassard et al.'s teleportation circuit, a non-trivial 3-bit quantum computation, is presented as an illustration.

arXiv:quant-ph/9806048•Talk given at•Jun 14, 1998•4 citations
Linear optics underpins fundamental tests of quantum mechanics and quantum technologies [1], as well as native protocols such as boson sampling. Here we experimentally demonstrate the longstanding goal of a single reprogrammable linear optical circuit that is sufficient to implement all possible linear optical protocols up to the size of that circuit [2].
Linear optics underpins fundamental tests of quantum mechanics and quantum technologies. We demonstrate a single reprogrammable optical circuit that is sufficient to implement all possible linear optical protocols up to the size of that circuit. Our six-mode universal system consists of a cascade of 15 Mach-Zehnder interferometers with 30 thermo-optic phase shifters integrated into a single photonic chip that is electrically and optically interfaced for arbitrary setting of all phase shifters, input of up to six photons, and their measurement with a 12-single-photon detector system. We programmed this system to implement heralded quantum logic and entangling gates, boson sampling with verification tests, and six-dimensional complex Hadamards. We implemented 100 Haar random unitaries with an average fidelity of 0.999 ± 0.001. Our system can be rapidly reprogrammed to implement these and any other linear optical protocol, pointing the way to applications across fundamental science and quantum technologies.
Abstract : This project builds toward a simplified quantum information processing device which, though simpler than a universal quantum computer, uses far fewer resources and can still outperform any classical device for a particular specific task. Using the evolution of photons through linear optical networks for computation, we introduce the Boson Sampling model of linear optical quantum computing, realizing the first universally reconfigurable linear optical circuit, and demonstrate how the device can perform quantum simulations of the evolution of vibrational wave-packets in molecules, suggesting that such an approach could yield the first meaningful quantum simulations which are not possible with classical computation.
We present a constructive method to translate small quantum circuits into their optical analogues, using linear components of present-day quantum optics technology only. These optical circuits perform precisely the computation that the quantum circuits are designed for, and can thus be used to test the performance of quantum algorithms. The method relies on the representation of several quantum bits by a single photon, and on the implementation of universal quantum gates using simple optical components (beam splitters, phase shifters, etc.). The optical implementation of Brassard et al.'s teleportation circuit, a non-trivial 3-bit quantum computation, is presented as an illustration.