In the last episode of Rays and Waves about linear optical quantum computers we discussed how using photons as qubits is good in many ways. However, the biggest hurdle is that photons don’t like interacting with each other, which makes the critical two-qubit gates difficult to create.

But a 2001 discovery showed it was in fact possible to effectively make two-qubit interactions and therefore a full quantum computer solely with linear optical elements, single photon sources and detectors. This discovery catalysed a wealth of research into optical quantum computers which in aggregate has today made it a viable contender to a path to scalable fault tolerant quantum computers.

The scheme that opened the floodgates for optical quantum computers is referred to as the KLM protocol after its originators Knill, Laflamme, and Milburn.

For this episode we have the honour of talking to said Milburn on the Rays and Waves podcast!

If you like the show, tell your friends and colleagues about it! And like, subscribe, and all that! If you want to get in touch, shoot us an email on rays.and.waves.podcast@gmail.com

Stuff mentioned in the episode:

- Looking Glass Universe video about Quantum Eraser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAm7iVdAvTA&t=1154s

- Ezra Klein interview about AGI: https://youtu.be/Btos-LEYQ30?feature=shared

Intro music is Good Vibe by Twisterium. Thanks for making sweet music!

Outro music is Slowly Comes The Angels by fermionik

In this episode of Rays and Waves we speak about Linear Optical Quantum Computers.

There has been lots of talk about quantum computers in the science media lately. Both companies and academic labs are hard at work to build the sought-after fault-tolerant quantum computer.

As it turns out, one approach to building quantum computers is with optics. Join us as we explore the pros and cons with this light-based approach to quantum computers.

If you like the show, tell your friends and colleagues about it! And like, subscribe, and all that! If you want to get in touch, shoot us an email on rays.and.waves.podcast@gmail.com

Good resources to learn more:

- Original KLM paper: Knill, Emanuel, Raymond Laflamme, and Gerald J. Milburn. "A scheme for efficient quantum computation with linear optics." nature 409.6816 (2001): 46-52.

- Good review: Slussarenko, Sergei, and Geoff J. Pryde. "Photonic quantum information processing: A concise review." Applied physics reviews 6.4 (2019).

- Lecture notes: Myers, C. R., and R. Laflamme. "Linear optics quantum computation: an overview." Quantum Computers, Algorithms and Chaos (2006): 45-93.

Game: Quantum Odyssey (https://store.steampowered.com/app/2802710/Quantum_Odyssey/)

Intro music is Good Vibe by Twisterium. Thanks for making sweet music!

In this episode of Rays and Waves we speak to Katsumoto Ikeda. Kats runs a brilliant webpage about optical design called “A Pencil of Rays” (https://www.pencilofrays.com/). He has worked as an optical designer for well over a decade. and is now the Application Engineer Manager at Ansys in Japan. Join Daniel, Steven, and Kats in a riveting conversation about optical design.

If you like the show, tell your friends about it! And like, subscribe, and all that! If you want to get in touch, shoot us an email on rays.and.waves.podcast@gmail.com

Intro music is Good Vibe by Twisterium. Thanks for making sweet music!

In this episode of Rays and Waves we speak to Mark Nicholson. Few people have made a bigger impact on how modern optics is designed and analysed. Mark was for 30 years involved with Zemax, one of the optical design software giants on the market. Nowadays Mark is retired, but continues to heavily impact the optics industry by running a YouTube channel called Design Optics Fast which teaches a modern approach to optical design. Join Daniel and Steve as they quiz Mark on his career and best advice to coming optics generation.

If you like the show, tell your friends about it! And like, subscribe, and all that! We'd love to hear from you, so feel free to reach out via email at rays.and.waves.podcast@gmail.com

Intro music is Good Vibe by Twisterium. Thanks for making sweet music!

In this episode of Rays and Waves we get to know the podcast purpose and the hosts a bit. Join Daniel and Steve in the episodes to come as they explore the vast world of optics.

If you like the show, tell your friends about it! And like, subscribe, and all that! If you want to get in touch, shoot us an email on rays.and.waves.podcast@gmail.com

Intro music is Good Vibe by Twisterium. Thanks for making sweet music!

In this episode of Rays and Waves we speak about Optical Design. Optical products are all around us, ranging from phones, cameras, cars, communication, grocery shopping, medical devices, and almost everything in between. How to design them? Join Daniel and Steve as they explore optical design from fundamentals of the thin lens equation learned in high school physics to how high-level optical systems are designed today.

If you like the show, tell your friends about it! And like, subscribe, and all that! If you want to get in touch, shoot us an email on rays.and.waves.podcast@gmail.com

Intro music is Good Vibe by Twisterium. Thanks for making sweet music!

In this episode of Rays and Waves we speak about Optical Communication. Join Daniel and Steve as they explore how information transfer through hair-thin glass fibres are changing the world. While data rates have grown by over 10 billion times since the first commercial systems we are still signalling the fall of Troy with fire beacons by blinking lights on and off, only mind-numbingly fast!

If you like the show, tell your friends about it! And like, subscribe, and all that! If you want to get in touch, shoot us an email on rays.and.waves.podcast@gmail.com

Intro music is Good Vibe by Twisterium. Thanks for making sweet music!