Three Strongly Coupled Kerr Parametric Oscillators Forming a Boltzmann Machine

Abstract

Coupled Kerr parametric oscillators (KPOs) are a promising resource for classical and quantum analog computation, for example to find the ground state of Ising Hamiltonians. Yet, the state space of strongly coupled KPO networks is very involved. As such, their phase diagram sometimes features either too few or too many states, including some that cannot be mapped to Ising spin configurations. This complexity makes it challenging to find and meet the conditions under which an analog optimization algorithm can be successful. Here, we demonstrate how to use three strongly coupled KPOs as a simulator for an Ising Hamiltonian, and estimate its ground state using a Boltzmann sampling measurement. While fully classical, our work is directly relevant for quantum systems operating on coherent states.