Quantum Optics Seminar by Alex Lvovsky

Quantum optical neural networks for computation, sensing and machine vision

Optical neural networks (ONNs) harness the fundamental properties of light to enable ultrafast, energy-efficient computation, surpassing the limitations of digital-electronic systems in tasks such as large-scale matrix multiplications. By exploiting interference, diffraction, and nonlinearity, ONNs can perform parallel processing of high-dimensional data, reducing latency and power consumption. Their further benefit, not explored extensively to date, is the ability to preserve and utilize quantum properties of light. We take advantage of these properties to develop and use ONNs in imaging and computer vision applications, as well as to solve discrete optimization problems. ONNs can enable microscopes of unprecedented resolution, computer vision systems that can see in almost complete darkness and quantum machines for finding the best routes in logistics, creating efficient schedules, designing new materials, or managing investment portfolios.