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Optoelectronic and all-optical hyperspin machines for large-scale computing

Project description

Photonic machines for large-scale all-optical computing

Efficient hardware for combinatorial optimisation and machine learning impacts science and engineering. While photonics offer new computational models to tackle problems intractable with conventional computing, current devices are limited to thousands of spins and operate on the second timescale. The ERC-funded HYPERSPIM project aims to demonstrate photonic machines for ultrafast parallel processing of millions of spins within a microsecond timescale. It minimises the Ising Hamiltonian using a computational system with a high-dimensional feature space and accelerates optimisation with ultrafast nonlinear optical processes. The project will develop digital, optoelectronic, and all-optical classical and quantum devices, benchmarking them with large-scale problems. It aims to advance photonic AI, large-scale all-optical computing, and fundamental science.

Objective

Efficient hardware for combinatorial optimization and machine learning impacts science, engineering, and society. With new computational models, photonics tackle problems intractable with conventional computing systems. However, existing devices only scale up to thousands of spins and operate at the second timescale.
I demonstrate photonic machines for ultrafast parallel processing of millions of spins with microsecond timescale. The strategy is minimizing a class of functions, the Ising Hamiltonian, by a new computational system that uses a high-dimensional feature space and speeds up optimization by orders of magnitude by ultrafast nonlinear optical processes. I build digital, optoelectronics, and all-optical classical and quantum devices and benchmark with real-world, large-scale problems.
By spatial modulation technology and a cheap, simple, and scalable design, light propagation is recurrently trained towards the ground state of a programmable Ising Hamiltonian. Starting from my proof-of-concept, first, I aim at the energetically efficient computing of large-scale Hamiltonians. Second, I include self-optimizing all-optical nonlinear ultrafast phase-locking processes. Third, I demonstrate record combinatorial optimization by letting the spins evolve in a high dimensional space to guarantee high success probability.
HYPERSPIM leverages the interplay of classical and quantum dynamics through the onset of entanglement and squeezing. The unprecedented scale and versatility allow the first quantum optimization tests for real-world complex computational tasks.
HYPERSPIM achieves the fastest and biggest optical computing device operating in classical and quantum regimes in an interdisciplinary route towards new photonic artificial intelligence, large-scale all-optical computing, and fundamental science.

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) ERC-2023-ADG

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Host institution

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI ROMA LA SAPIENZA
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 2 490 000,00
Address
Piazzale Aldo Moro 5
00185 Roma
Italy

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Region
Centro (IT) Lazio Roma
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 2 490 000,00

Beneficiaries (1)

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