Implementation of Leaking Quantum Walks on a Photonic Processor

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the implementation of leaking quantum walks on a photonic processor, showing how controlled absorption influences quantum coherence and interference, advancing quantum simulation and computation capabilities.

Contribution

It introduces and experimentally investigates absorbing boundaries in quantum walks using photonic integrated circuits, a novel approach for simulating open quantum systems.

Findings

Controlled losses modify interference patterns and coherence.

Absorbing boundaries do not fully destroy quantum features.

Experimental results align with theoretical simulations.

Abstract

Quantum walks (QWs) represent pillars of quantum dynamics and information processing. They provide a powerful framework for simulating quantum transport, designing search algorithms, and enabling universal quantum computation. Several physical platforms have been employed for their implementation, such as trapped atoms and ions, nuclear magnetic resonance systems, and photonic quantum architectures either in bulk optics or waveguide structures and fiber-loop networks. Here we focus on the most promising and versatile approach, that is photonic integrated circuits. In this work, we review how the employment of this versatile experimental platform has allowed to explore several phenomena related to QW-based protocols as, for instance, the evolution in presence of different kinds of noise. In this landscape, to the best of our knowledge, few examples report on the introduction of absorbing centers and their effects on the coherence of the dynamics. Here we present and discuss the results related to absorbing boundaries in QWs obtained through theoretical simulations and experiments conducted with the universal photonic quantum processors realized by Quix Quantum. We analyze how localized absorption along one lattice edge affects the walker dynamics depending on both the leakage probability and the initial injection site. Our results show that the presence of controlled losses modifies interference patterns and coherence, without fully destroying quantum features and providing an effective resource for engineering on-chip QWs and simulating open quantum systems.