A poor man's coherent Ising machine based on opto-electronic feedback systems for solving optimization problems.

Area of Science:

• Quantum computing
• Computational physics
• Optical engineering

Background:

• Coherent Ising Machines (CIMs) offer potential speed-ups for complex optimization problems by simulating the Ising model.
• Current CIM implementations face challenges in stability, size, and cost due to complex optical setups.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and test a novel, fully programmable Coherent Ising Machine (CIM).
• To demonstrate a compact, stable, and cost-effective CIM based on opto-electronic oscillators.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing opto-electronic oscillators with self-feedback to generate artificial spins.
• Encoding spins in the intensity of coherent states, avoiding nonlinear optics and large cavities.
• Testing the device on MAXCUT optimization problems for regular and frustrated graphs with 100 spins.

Main Results:

• A compact and programmable CIM setup was successfully demonstrated.
• The proposed CIM achieved performance comparable to or better than existing CIMs.
• The design offers significant advantages in stability, size, and cost.

Conclusions:

• The proposed opto-electronic oscillator-based CIM is a viable and advantageous alternative to current designs.
• This approach simplifies CIM construction and operation, paving the way for practical applications.
• Programmable CIMs hold promise for efficiently solving computationally hard optimization problems.