Implementing displacement gates on X8

Photonic Software Strawberry Fields
1

Hello!

I’m trying to implement CV-QAOA for a cost function like f(x)=(x−a)2f(x) = (x - a)^2f(x)=(x−a)2 on the Xanadu X8 chip as per this notebook. From what I understand, X8 supports only passive linear optics operations — beam splitters, phase shifters, and interferometers — acting identically on signal and idler modes initialized as two-mode squeezed states.

My question is:

  • Since CV-QAOA requires displacement gates (e.g., eipx^/ℏe^{i p \hat{x} / \hbar}eipx^/ℏ) and quadratic phase gates, is it correct that displacements cannot be implemented on X8 at all?
  • Are there any known workarounds or approximations for implementing such active Gaussian gates on X8?
  • Has Xanadu planned or implemented displacement operations on any of their hardware platforms beyond X8, like Borealis or lab testbeds?

Thanks in advance for any guidance!
Mas

2

Hi @mhakimi ,

I’ve provided an answer on thread #1274. Let’s keep the conversation there. In the future please only post in a single topic/thread. We monitor all posts so we’ll see your question in the first thread. That being said, if you have a new and unrelated question, please feel free to open a new topic for such question! :smiley:

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Hi @CatalinaAlbornoz,

Sure, thank you so much!