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Updated: May 4, 2026

Quantum State Engineering of Light with Continuous-wave Optical Parametric Oscillators
Published on: May 30, 2014
Addressing quantum's "fine print" with efficient state preparation and information extraction for quantum algorithms
Jessie M Henderson1, John Kath2, John K Golden3
1Los Alamos National Laboratory, CCS-3, Los Alamos, NM, 87545, USA. jessieh@lanl.gov.
Abstract:
Quantum algorithms provide an exponential speedup for solving certain classes of linear systems, including those that model geologic fracture flow. However, this revolutionary gain in efficiency does not come without difficulty. Quantum algorithms require that problems satisfy not only algorithm-specific constraints, but also application-specific ones. Otherwise, the quantum advantage carefully attained through algorithmic ingenuity can be entirely negated. Previous work addressing quantum algorithms for geologic fracture flow has illustrated core algorithmic approaches while incrementally removing assumptions. This work addresses two further requirements for solving geologic fracture flow systems with quantum algorithms: efficient system state preparation and efficient information extraction. Our approach to addressing each is consistent with an overall exponential speed-up.
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