Experimental demonstration of a directionally-unbiased linear-optical multiport
Files
Accepted manuscript
Date
2018-10-15
Authors
Osawa, Shuto
Simon, David S.
Sergienko, Alexander V.
Version
Accepted manuscript
OA Version
Citation
Shuto Osawa, David S Simon, Alexander Sergienko. 2018. "Experimental demonstration of a directionally-unbiased linear-optical multiport." Optics Express, Volume 26, Issue 21, pp. 27201 - 27211 (11). https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.26.027201
Abstract
All existing optical quantum walk approaches are based on the use of beamsplitters and multiple paths to explore the multitude of unitary transformations of quantum amplitudes in a Hilbert space. The beamsplitter is naturally a directionally biased device: the photon cannot travel in reverse direction. This causes rapid increases in optical hardware resources required for complex quantum walk applications, since the number of options for the walking particle grows with each step. Here we present the experimental demonstration of a directionally-unbiased linear-optical multiport, which allows reversibility of photon direction. An amplitude-controllable probability distribution matrix for a unitary three-edge vertex is reconstructed with only linear-optical devices. Such directionally-unbiased multiports allow direct execution of quantum walks over a multitude of complex graphs and in tensor networks. This approach would enable simulation of complex Hamiltonians of physical systems and quantum walk applications in a more efficient and compact setup, substantially reducing the required hardware resources.
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License
© 2018 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement.