Non-linear Boson Sampling

TL;DR

This paper explores the integration of non-linear photon interactions into Boson Sampling, aiming to enhance its computational complexity and potential applications in photonic quantum computing.

Contribution

It introduces non-linear photon-photon interactions into Boson Sampling and analyzes the resulting increase in computational complexity and potential functionalities.

Findings

Non-linear interactions extend Boson Sampling's computational expressivity.

Explicit simulation schemes demonstrate enhanced complexity.

Potential for new applications in near-term photonic quantum devices.

Abstract

Boson Sampling is a task that is conjectured to be computationally hard for a classical computer, but which can be efficiently solved by linear-optical interferometers with Fock state inputs. Significant advances have been reported in the last few years, with demonstrations of small- and medium-scale devices, as well as implementations of variants such as Gaussian Boson Sampling. Besides the relevance of this class of computational models in the quest for unambiguous experimental demonstrations of quantum advantage, recent results have also proposed first applications for hybrid quantum computing. Here, we introduce the adoption of non-linear photon-photon interactions in the Boson Sampling framework, and analyze the enhancement in complexity via an explicit linear-optical simulation scheme. By extending the computational expressivity of Boson Sampling, the introduction of non-linearities promises to disclose novel functionalities for this class of quantum devices. Hence, our results are expected to lead to new applications of near-term, restricted photonic quantum computers.