Quantum annealing with a network of all-to-all connected, two-photon driven Kerr nonlinear oscillators

Abstract

Quantum annealing aims to solve combinatorial optimization problems mapped on to Ising interactions between quantum spins. A critical factor that limits the success of a quantum annealer is its sensitivity to noise, and intensive research is consequently focussed towards developing noise-resilient annealers. Here we propose a new paradigm for quantum annealing with a scalable network of all-to-all connected, two-photon driven Kerr-nonlinear resonators. Each of these resonators encode an Ising spin in a robust degenerate subspace formed by two coherent states of opposite phases. The fully-connected optimization problem is mapped onto local fields driving the resonators, which are themselves connected by local four-body interactions. We describe an adiabatic annealing protocol in this system and analyze its performance in the presence of photon loss. Numerical simulations indicate substantial resilience to this noise channel, making it a promising platform for implementing a large scale quantum Ising machine. Finally, we propose a realistic implementation of this scheme in circuit QED.