The goal of this program is to identify and begin to explore exciting new applications for Xanadu's near-term quantum computers, which carry out a calculation called "Gaussian Boson Sampling" or GBS.

GBS is performed by encoding a matrix in a large, programmable optical interferometer, and pulses containing a few photons each are sent through the optical circuit to probe its structure.

Algorithms can exploit GBS to carry out hard tasks like point process simulations, finding Max Clique and Dense Subgraphs in graphs (which could be applied to a wide range of optimization problems), and determining vibronic spectra of molecules. A good summary of the known applications of GBS to date can be found here: https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.07634.

Our X8, X12 and X24 machines are currently available over the cloud, and can be programmed using our open-source software library: Strawberry Fields (https://strawberryfields.ai/).

We are looking for interesting use cases for GBS to showcase – share your ideas with us!