Simulations quantiques pionnières sur puces photoniques : une nouvelle ère dans l’informatique quantique

Un nouveau système développé par des chercheurs de l’Université de Rochester leur permet de mener des simulations quantiques dans un espace synthétique qui imite le monde physique en contrôlant la fréquence, ou la couleur, des photons intriqués quantiques au fil du temps. Crédit : Illustration de l’Université de Rochester / Michael Osadciw

Un système utilisant des dimensions synthétiques basées sur la photonique pourrait être utilisé pour aider à expliquer des phénomènes naturels complexes.

Des chercheurs de l’Université de Rochester ont mis au point un système de simulation quantique optique à l’échelle de la puce utilisant des

 » data-gt-translate-attributes= »[{ » attribute= » »>photon frequency to simulate complex natural phenomena at the quantum level, reducing the physical footprint and resource requirements of traditional methods. This innovation, heralding a quantum-correlated synthetic crystal, could pave the way for more complex future simulations.

Scientists have made an important step toward developing computers advanced enough to simulate complex natural phenomena at the quantum level. While these types of simulations are too cumbersome or outright impossible for classical computers to handle, photonics-based <span class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="

 » data-gt-translate-attributes= »[{ » attribute= » »>quantum computing systems could provide a solution.

A team of researchers from the University of Rochesters Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences developed a new chip-scale optical quantum simulation system that could help make such a system feasible. The team, led by Qiang Lin, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and optics, published their findings on June 22 in the journal <span class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="

 » data-gt-translate-attributes= »[{ » attribute= » »>Nature Photonics.

Lins team ran the simulations in a synthetic space that mimics the physical world by controlling the frequency, or color, of quantum entangled photons as time elapses. This approach differs from the traditional photonics-based computing methods in which the paths of photons are controlled, and also drastically reduces the physical footprint and resource requirements.

For the first time, we have been able to produce a quantum-correlated synthetic crystal, says Lin. Our approach significantly extends the dimensions of the synthetic space, enabling us to perform simulations of several quantum-scale phenomena such as random walks of quantum entangled photons.

The researchers say that this system can serve as a basis for more intricate simulations in the future.

Though the systems being simulated are well understood, this proof-of-principle experiment demonstrates the power of this new approach for scaling up to more complex simulations and computation tasks, something we are very excited to investigate in the future, says Usman Javid 23 PhD (optics), the lead author on the study.

Reference: Chip-scale simulations in a quantum-correlated synthetic space by Usman A. Javid, Raymond Lopez-Rios, Jingwei Ling, Austin Graf, Jeremy Staffa and Qiang Lin, 22 June 2023, Nature Photonics.
DOI: 10.1038/s41566-023-01236-7

Other coauthors from Lins group include Raymond Lopez-Rios, Jingwei Ling, Austin Graf, and Jeremy Staffa.

The project was supported with funding from the National Science Foundation, the Defense Threat Reduction Agencys Joint Science and Technology Office for Chemical and Biological Defense, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.