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!

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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