Abstract
Photonic quantum computing is based on the use of single photons as qubits. There are many proposed architectures for the realisation of photonic quantum computers; however, the design of electronic control systems for these architectures is substantially less well understood. Furthermore, most of these proposals for photonic quantum computing use measurement-based quantum computing (MBQC), or similar schemes that avoid the necessity for long-lived photons in the system. These schemes can appear quite abstract and theoretical, and cause a barrier to entry for electronic engineers hoping to design control systems for photonic quantum computing.This thesis has two primary objectives. First, to present a methodology for evaluating prospective control system designs for photonic quantum computers based on MBQC, based on the analysis of timing constraints that these implementations impose on the full quantum computing system. These timing constraints are derived by analysing a concrete design, targeting a simple model for photonic quantum computing, in a case where the control system is simple enough to design without needing hardware emulation to evaluate design trade-offs. Constraints in a more complicated (and more realistic) setting, involving photonic quantum computing using incomplete cluster states, are addressed by emulating one possible choice of algorithms that could be used as the basis for a control system in this case. This latter emulation provides a framework for analysing other prospective algorithms, and forms the basis for an analysis system that could be modified to investigate other photonic quantum computing models.
The second objective is to present MBQC-based photonic quantum computing in a simple diagrammatic form, which focuses on the control system specification rather than the mathematics of MBQC. It is hoped that this lowers the barrier to entry for engineers interested in photonic quantum computing control system design.
| Date of Award | 27 Sept 2022 |
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| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Krishna Coimbatore Balram (Supervisor) |