Fulvio Flamini

Experimental validation of photonic boson sampling

Nicolò Spagnolo, Chiara Vitelli, 2 Marco Bentivegna, Daniel J. Brod, Andrea Crespi, 5 Fulvio Flamini, Sandro Giacomini, Giorgio Milani, Roberta Ramponi, 5 Paolo Mataloni, 6 Roberto Osellame, 5, ∗ Ernesto F. Galvão, † and Fabio Sciarrino 6, ‡ Dipartimento di Fisica, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, I-00185 Roma, Italy Center of Life NanoScience @ La Sapienza, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Viale Regina Elena, 255, I-00185 Roma, Italy Instituto de F́ısica, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Av. Gal. Milton Tavares de Souza s/n, Niterói, RJ, 24210-340, Brazil Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IFN-CNR), Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32, I-20133 Milano, Italy Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32, I-20133 Milano, Italy Istituto Nazionale di Ottica (INO-CNR), Largo E. Fermi 6, I-50125 Firenze, Italy

Experimental Scattershot Boson Sampling

A novel experiment supports quantum computation using photonic circuits to greatly increase quantum device speed. Boson sampling is a computational task strongly believed to be hard for classical computers, but efficiently solvable by orchestrated bosonic interference in a specialized quantum computer. Current experimental schemes, however, are still insufficient for a convincing demonstration of the advantage of quantum over classical computation. A new variation of this task, scattershot boson sampling, leads to an exponential increase in speed of the quantum device, using a larger number of photon sources based on parametric down-conversion. This is achieved by having multiple heralded single photons being sent, shot by shot, into different random input ports of the interferometer. We report the first scattershot boson sampling experiments, where six different photon-pair sources are coupled to integrated photonic circuits. We use recently proposed statistical tools to analyze our experimental data, providing strong evidence that our photonic quantum simulator works as expected. This approach represents an important leap toward a convincing experimental demonstration of the quantum computational supremacy.

Suppression law of quantum states in a 3D photonic fast Fourier transform chip

The identification of phenomena able to pinpoint quantum interference is attracting large interest. Indeed, a generalization of the Hong–Ou–Mandel effect valid for any number of photons and optical modes would represent an important leap ahead both from a fundamental perspective and for practical applications, such as certification of photonic quantum devices, whose computational speedup is expected to depend critically on multi-particle interference. Quantum distinctive features have been predicted for many particles injected into multimode interferometers implementing the Fourier transform over the optical modes. Here we develop a scalable approach for the implementation of the fast Fourier transform algorithm using three-dimensional photonic integrated interferometers, fabricated via femtosecond laser writing technique. We observe the suppression law for a large number of output states with four- and eight-mode optical circuits: the experimental results demonstrate genuine quantum interference between the injected photons, thus offering a powerful tool for diagnostic of photonic platforms.

Thermally reconfigurable quantum photonic circuits at telecom wavelength by femtosecond laser micromachining

The importance of integrated quantum photonics in the telecom band resides on the possibility of interfacing with the optical network infrastructure developed for classical communications. In this framework, femtosecond laser written integrated photonic circuits, already assessed for quantum information experiments in the 800 nm wavelength range, have great potentials. In fact these circuits, written in glass, can be perfectly mode-matched at telecom wavelength to the in/out coupling fibers, which is a key requirement for a low-loss processing node in future quantum optical networks. In addition, for several applications quantum photonic devices will also need to be dynamically reconfigurable. Here we experimentally demonstrate the high performance of femtosecond laser written photonic circuits for quantum experiments in the telecom band and we show the use of thermal shifters, also fabricated by the same femtosecond laser, to accurately tune them. State-of-the-art manipulation of single and two-photon states is demonstrated, with fringe visibilities greater than 95%. This opens the way to the realization of reconfigurable quantum photonic circuits on this technological platform.

Bayesian approach to Boson sampling validation

The Boson sampling problem consists in sampling from the output probability distribution of a bosonic Fock state, after it evolves through a linear interferometer. There is strong evidence that Boson sampling is computationally hard for classical computers, while it can be solved naturally by bosons. This has led it to draw increasing attention as a possible way to provide experimental evidence for the quantum computational supremacy. Nevertheless, the very complexity of the problem makes it hard to exclude the hypothesis that the experimental data are sampled from a different probability distribution. By exploiting integrated quantum photonics, we have carried out a set of three-photon Boson sampling experiments and analyzed the results using a Bayesian approach, showing that it represents a valid alternative to currently used methods. We adopt this approach to provide evidence that the experimental data correspond to genuine three-photon interference, validating the results against fully and partially-distinguishable photon hypotheses.

Experimental generalized quantum suppression law in Sylvester interferometers

Photonic interference is a key quantum resource for optical quantum computation, and in particular for so-called boson sampling machines. In interferometers with certain symmetries, genuine multiphoton quantum interference effectively suppresses certain sets of events, as in the original Hong-Ou-Mandel effect. Recently, it was shown that some classical and semi-classical models could be ruled out by identifying such suppressions in Fourier interferometers. Here we propose a suppression law suitable for random-input experiments in multimode Sylvester interferometers, and verify it experimentally using 4- and 8-mode integrated interferometers. The observed suppression is stronger than what is observed in Fourier interferometers of the same size, and could be relevant to certification of boson sampling machines and other experiments relying on bosonic interference.

Benchmarking integrated linear-optical architectures for quantum information processing

Photonic platforms represent a promising technology for the realization of several quantum communication protocols and for experiments of quantum simulation. Moreover, large-scale integrated interferometers have recently gained a relevant role in quantum computing, specifically with Boson Sampling devices and the race for quantum supremacy. Indeed, various linear optical schemes have been proposed for the implementation of unitary transformations, each one suitable for a specific task. Notwithstanding, so far a comprehensive analysis of the state of the art under broader and realistic conditions is still lacking. In the present work we fill this gap, providing in a unified framework a quantitative comparison of the three main photonic architectures, namely the ones with triangular and square designs and the so-called fast transformations. All layouts have been analyzed in presence of losses and imperfect control over the internal reflectivities and phases, showing that the square design outperforms the triangular scheme in most operational conditions. Our results represent a further step ahead towards the implementation of quantum information protocols on large-scale integrated photonic devices.Fulvio Flamini,1 Nicolò Spagnolo,1 Niko Viggianiello,1 Andrea Crespi,2, 3 Roberto Osellame,2, 3 and Fabio Sciarrino1 1Dipartimento di Fisica, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, I-00185 Roma, Italy 2Istituto di Fotonica e Nanotecnologie, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IFN-CNR), Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32, I-20133 Milano, Italy 3Dipartimento di Fisica, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32, I-20133 Milano, Italy

Signature of multi-photon interference in boson sampling experiments

The progressive development of quantum technologies in many areas, ranging from investigation on foundamentals of quantum of mechanics to quantum information and computation, has increased the interest on those problems that can exhibit a quantum advantage. The Boson Sampling problem is a clear example where traditional computers fail in the task of sampling from the distribution of n indistinguishable photons after a propagation in a m-mode optical interferometer. In this context, in the absence of classical algorithms able to simulate efficiently multi-photon interference, the validation of Boson Sampling is still an open problem. Here we investigate a novel approach to Boson Sampling validation based on statistical properties of correlation functions. In particular we discuss its feasibility in actual proof-of-principle experiments. Furthermore we provide an extensive study of the physical resources required to validate experiments, investigating also the role of bosonic bunching in high-dimensional applications. Our investigation confirms the goodness of the validation protocol, paving the way to use this toolbox for the validation of Boson Sampling devices.

Generalized suppression law for validation of Boson Sampling

Recently, interference of multi-particle states has raised a strong interest in the scientific community, since it is believed to be at the very heart of post-classical computation. In this context, Boson Sampling [1] devices exploit multi-photon interference effects to provide evidence of a superior quantum computational power with current state-of-the-art technology. Thus, the capability to correctly certify the presence of multi-particle interference and find optimal platforms, becomes a crucial task because is expected to find numerous applications in photonic quantum information as a diagnostic tool for quantum optical devices.