Observation of associative-memory retrieval and spin-glass phases on a photonic quantum simulator
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Quantum Physics arXiv:2605.22922 (quant-ph) [Submitted on 21 May 2026] Title:Observation of associative-memory retrieval and spin-glass phases on a photonic quantum simulator Authors:Taira Giordani, Gennaro Zanfardino, Luca Leuzzi, Enrico Bonfissuto, Eugenio Caruccio, Gabriele Gasbarri, Mattia Bossi, Abhiram Rajan, Riccardo Albiero, Francesco Ceccarelli, Nicolò Spagnolo, Raffaele Santagati, Stefano Paesani, Marco Leonetti, Roberto Osellame, Giorgio Parisi, Giancarlo Ruocco, Fabrizio Illuminati, Fabio Sciarrino View a PDF of the paper titled Observation of associative-memory retrieval and spin-glass phases on a photonic quantum simulator, by Taira Giordani and 17 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract:Models of interacting complex systems provide the fundamental statistical physics reference frame for the study and the understanding of associative memories, machine learning, and the dynamics of neural networks. On the other hand, simulating complex multi-synaptic interactions on a classical hardware is computationally demanding due to the super-linear scaling of the system complexity. Photonic quantum technologies provide a promising solution to these limitations by leveraging on their inherent speed and parallel processing ability in order to simulate complex networks. Recently, a connection between multiphoton processes and generalized $p$-body Hopfield models has been theoretically established. Here, we design and demonstrate an experimental platform that exploits single photons distributed across a set of optical modes, in which controlled arrays of binary phase shifters act as Ising-like neurons. We focus specifically on a fully connected Hopfield Hamiltonian with four-body local interaction terms, realized via two-photon processes. Through quantum simulations on programmable photonic processors, the study identifies three distinct regimes: a memory retrieval phase, a spin-glass memory "black-out" phase, and a paramagnetic phase. Experimental results confirm successful memory retrieval at low storage capacities and temperatures, where the system consistently relaxes to fixed points with high memory overlap, effectively reconstructing the stored patterns. Future research will extend the platform design to investigate networks with local or dilute interactions, while advances in the realization of scalable photonic circuits will enable architectures that encompass very large numbers of interacting spins. Comments: Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Disordered Systems and Neural Networks (cond-mat.dis-nn); Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech) Cite as: arXiv:2605.22922 [quant-ph] (or arXiv:2605.22922v1 [quant-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2605.22922 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration) Submission history From: Fabio Sciarrino [view email] [v1] Thu, 21 May 2026 18:01:09 UTC (956 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Observation of associative-memory retrieval and spin-glass phases on a photonic quantum simulator, by Taira Giordani and 17 other authorsView PDFHTML (experimental)TeX Source view license Current browse context: quant-ph new | recent | 2026-05 Change to browse by: cond-mat cond-mat.dis-nn cond-mat.stat-mech References & Citations INSPIRE HEP NASA ADSGoogle Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... BibTeX formatted citation × loading... 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