Realistic simulation of universal multiport interferometers with losses within a Gaussian formalism
Abstract
Photonic technologies are among the leading platform contenders for demonstrating quantum advantage. Nevertheless, photon losses represent the major hurdle for the realization of a fault-tolerant optical quantum computer, and the need for an accurate characterization of this phenomenon is crucial for classical simulations of quantum algorithms on noisy backends. The noisy regime would require the simulation of the algorithm on a Fock backend or rather assuming the a priori hypothesis on the uniformity of the optical losses, which may lead to wrong predictions about the outcome from the algorithm on a cerain hardware. We propose a Gaussian model that can reproduce a lossy dynamics through the experimental characterization of imperfect interferometers, yielding the corresponding mean vector and the covariance matrix. Such model can be adapted to any continuous-variable architecture (spatial or time-bin encoded) and for both the Gaussian boson sampling or general-dyne based algorithms. Eventually, we quantify the drift of optical losses from being uniform throughout the multiport interferometer by a numerical simulation. This work proposes a blueprint for future characterizations, tailor-suited for specific devices and architectures, as well as for potential error correction and mitigation techniques, and it paves the way for realistic simulations of quantum algorithms on NISQ optical platforms.
Related
- Jevons' Paradox and Fast Generative Simulation for HEP: Why Realistic Benchmarking is Essential
- Parameter Space, Realistic Matter, and Universal Relations in Bose--Einstein Condensate Dark Stars
- Universal and rigorous asymptotic convergence of standard macroscopic quantum electrodynamics to the modified Langevin noise formalism
- Realistic Simulation of Valence-band Photoemission Spectra by using First-principles Calculations on the Basis of FLAPW Method
- Exact Positive-P Simulation of Open Quantum Spin Systems with Generalized Density Matrix Formalism
BibTeX
@misc{corli2026realistic,
title = {{Realistic simulation of universal multiport interferometers with losses within a Gaussian formalism}},
author = {Sebastiano Corli and Dario Chemoli and Samuele Altilia and Edoardo Suerra and Dario Tamascelli and Simone Cialdi and Enrico Prati},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.16719},
eprint = {2610.16719},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.16719},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Realistic simulation of universal multiport interferometers with losses within a Gaussian formalism
AU - Sebastiano Corli
AU - Dario Chemoli
AU - Samuele Altilia
AU - Edoardo Suerra
AU - Dario Tamascelli
AU - Simone Cialdi
AU - Enrico Prati
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/12
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.16719
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.16719
AB - Photonic technologies are among the leading platform contenders for demonstrating quantum advantage. Nevertheless, photon losses represent the major hurdle for the realization of a fault-tolerant optical quantum computer, and the need for an accurate characterization of this phenomenon is crucial for classical simulations of quantum algorithms on noisy backends. The noisy regime would require the simulation of the algorithm on a Fock backend or rather assuming the a priori hypothesis on the uniformity of the optical losses, which may lead to wrong predictions about the outcome from the algorithm on a cerain hardware. We propose a Gaussian model that can reproduce a lossy dynamics through the experimental characterization of imperfect interferometers, yielding the corresponding mean vector and the covariance matrix. Such model can be adapted to any continuous-variable architecture (spatial or time-bin encoded) and for both the Gaussian boson sampling or general-dyne based algorithms. Eventually, we quantify the drift of optical losses from being uniform throughout the multiport interferometer by a numerical simulation. This work proposes a blueprint for future characterizations, tailor-suited for specific devices and architectures, as well as for potential error correction and mitigation techniques, and it paves the way for realistic simulations of quantum algorithms on NISQ optical platforms.
ER -