Quantum Computing Transformed by Breakthrough Photonic Technology

By The Hebrew University of Jerusalem October 11, 2024

Collected at: https://scitechdaily.com/quantum-computing-transformed-by-breakthrough-photonic-technology/

Researchers have made significant advancements in quantum computing, focusing on photonic-measurement-based quantum computation.

Their study introduces a scalable and resource-efficient method that uses high-dimensional spatial encoding to generate large cluster states. This breakthrough could accelerate the development of faster, fault-tolerant quantum computers.

Overcoming Quantum Computing Challenges

A new study published in Nature Photonics by Prof. Yaron Bromberg and Dr. Ohad Lib from the Racah Institute of Physics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has made significant strides in advancing quantum computing through their research on photonic-measurement-based quantum computation. This method has the potential to overcome some of the significant challenges in quantum computation, offering a scalable and resource-efficient solution by utilizing high-dimensional spatial encoding to generate large cluster states.

Quantum computers currently encounter a major bottleneck in producing the large cluster states essential for computations. The conventional approach results in exponentially decreasing detection probabilities as the number of photons increases. Prof. Bromberg and Dr. Lib’s study tackles this problem by encoding multiple qubits within each photon using spatial encoding. This pioneering approach has successfully generated cluster states containing over nine qubits at a frequency of 100 Hz, marking a notable achievement in the field.

Enhancing Quantum Computation Efficiency

Additionally, the researchers demonstrated that this method substantially reduces computation time by enabling instantaneous feedforward between qubits encoded within the same photon. This breakthrough opens the door to more resource-efficient quantum computations, potentially leading to faster, fault-tolerant quantum computers capable of handling complex problems.

Prof. Bromberg commented, “Our results show that using high-dimensional encoding not only overcomes previous scalability barriers but also offers a practical and efficient approach to quantum computing. This represents a major leap forward.”

Future Implications for Quantum Technology

Dr. Lib added, “By tackling both scalability and computation duration issues, we’ve paved a new way forward for measurement-based quantum computation. The future of quantum technology just became a little closer.”

This study marks an important milestone in the ongoing pursuit of realizing the full potential of quantum computing through photonics.

Reference: “Resource-efficient photonic quantum computation with high-dimensional cluster states” by Ohad Lib, and Yaron Bromberg, 16 September 2024, Nature Photonics.
DOI: 10.1038/s41566-024-01524-w