Measurement-Based Linear Optics

TL;DR

This paper introduces a measurement-based approach to implement large, stable interferometers in optical quantum processing, enabling flexible programming via homodyne measurements and analyzing its efficiency and performance for BosonSampling.

Contribution

It proposes a virtual, measurement-programmable interferometer that replaces physical setups, with a detailed analysis of its efficiency and suitability for BosonSampling tasks.

Findings

Efficient in time and energy (squeezing) for quantum interferometry.

Capable of simulating large interferometers with finite squeezing effects.

Potential to demonstrate post-classical computational power.

Abstract

A major challenge in optical quantum processing is implementing large, stable interferometers. Here we propose a virtual, measurement-based interferometer that is programmed on the fly solely by the choice of homodyne measurement angles. The effects of finite squeezing are captured as uniform amplitude damping. We compare our proposal to existing (physical) interferometers and consider its performance for BosonSampling, which could demonstrate post-classical computational power in the near future. We prove its efficiency in time and squeezing (energy) in this setting.