Optical reservoir computing for machine learning at the speed of light

与今天的标准笔记本电脑已经远远超过第一代穿孔卡片计算机类似，这个为期三年的项目旨在推动能够在现实世界条件下取得成功的量子计算机的进步，其基础是通过“高维门操作”可靠地控制复杂的量子态。拟议的研究将允许INRS-EMT及其工业合作伙伴(Passat Ltd.和Low-Cycle Inc.)的大学团队。领导国际努力提高量子信息处理(QIP)的性能，同时使用工业界和学术界高度需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，这些光子也可以通过标准的低成本电信光纤进行长距离传输。然而，由于在可见光下光子探测率明显更高，我们将通过向上转换光子频率来将这两个区域联系起来。对光子的完全控制是QIP的关键，但它需要具有挑战性的量子门，不适合实际使用，并且维度仍然有限(d=4)。我们的目标是将这一数字提高到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扫描的信息量增加。我们将通过三个步骤实现这一目标：(I)通过可编程且紧凑的热控制单元对光子进行高效上转换；(Ii)用于任意混合经典光的光谱分量并在频域中完全控制幅度和相位的通用方案；(Iii)扩展这一通用方案以相干地操纵光子并任意混合它们的频率，以便对单光子和双光子执行目标门操作。拟议的技术和对高素质人员的培训将有助于使加拿大保持在快速发展的“量子革命”的前沿，从而增强其在关键行业的领先地位，这些行业极其需要强大的量子计算平台，如先进的环境传感、高精度的化学分析和增强的安全协议。

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.