Optical reservoir computing for machine learning at the speed of light

就像今天的标准笔记本电脑远远超过了第一台打孔卡计算机一样，这个为期三年的项目旨在通过“高维门操作”对复杂量子态进行可靠控制，从而使量子计算机能够在现实世界条件下取得成功。拟议的研究将使来自INRS-EMT的大学团队及其工业合作伙伴（Passat Ltd.和few-cycle Inc.）领导国际努力，提高量子信息处理（QIP）的性能，同时使用工业和学术界高度要求的实用和低成本平台。这些需求可以通过量子光学来解决，因为人们可以在单个光子（光粒子）中存储大量信息，这些信息也可以通过标准的低成本电信光纤进行长距离传输。然而，由于可见光中的光子检测率明显更高，我们将通过上转换光子频率将这两种制度联系起来。对光子的完全控制对于QIP来说是至关重要的，然而它需要量子门，这是具有挑战性的，不适合实际使用，并且仍然在维度上有限（d=4）。我们的目标是将其提高到d=8，这是一个重要的里程碑，类似于从2D x射线图像到全3D ct扫描的信息增加。我们将通过三个步骤实现这一目标：(I)通过可编程和紧凑的热控制单元实现光子的有效上转换；（二）在频域完全控制振幅和相位的经典光频谱分量任意混合的通用方案；（III）扩展该通用方案，以相干地操纵光子并任意混合其频率，从而对一个和两个光子执行目标门操作。拟议的技术和高素质人才的培训将有助于加拿大保持在快速发展的“量子革命”的前沿，从而增强其在关键领域的领先地位，这些领域至关需要强大的量子计算平台，如先进的环境传感、高精度化学分析和增加的安全协议。

In analogy to how today's standard laptops have far exceeded the first punch-card computers, this three-year project targets the advancement of quantum computers capable of succeeding under real-world conditions, based on the reliable control of complex quantum states via 'high-dimensional gate operations'. The proposed research will allow the university team from INRS-EMT and its industrial partners (Passat Ltd. and few-cycle Inc.) to lead international efforts in improving the performance of quantum information processing (QIP), while using practical and low-cost platforms that are highly demanded by industry and academia. These needs can be addressed by quantum optics, as one can store large amounts of information in single photons (particles of light), which can also be transmitted over long distances in standard, low-cost telecommunications fibers. Since, however, photon detection rates are significantly higher in the visible, we will link these two regimes by up-converting photon frequencies. Full control over photons is crucial for QIP, which nevertheless requires quantum gates that are challenging to build, unsuitable for practical use, and still limited in dimensionality (d=4). We aim to boost that to d=8, which is a significant milestone, similar to the information increase from 2D X-Ray images to full 3D CT-scans. We will achieve this goal through three steps: (I) efficient up-conversion of photons through a programmable and compact thermal control unit; (II) universal scheme for arbitrarily mixing the spectral components of classical light with full control of amplitude and phase in the frequency domain; (III) extension of this universal scheme to coherently manipulate photons and arbitrarily mix their frequencies for performing the targeted gate operations on one and two photons. The proposed technology and the training of highly-qualified personnel will contribute to keep Canada at the forefront of the rapidly moving "quantum revolution", thereby enhancing its leading position across critical sectors that vitally require powerful quantum computation platforms, such as advanced environmental sensing, high-precision chemical analysis, and increased security protocols.