Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Part I Light and Fluids
- Part II Photonic Spin Glasses
- Part III Optical Ising Machines
- 13 Focusing in Random Media and Transmission Matrices
- 14 The Spatial Ising Machine
- 15 The Parametron and the Coherent Ising Machine
- References
- Subject Index
- Acronym and Abbreviation Index
14 - The Spatial Ising Machine
from Part III - Optical Ising Machines
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 June 2026
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Part I Light and Fluids
- Part II Photonic Spin Glasses
- Part III Optical Ising Machines
- 13 Focusing in Random Media and Transmission Matrices
- 14 The Spatial Ising Machine
- 15 The Parametron and the Coherent Ising Machine
- References
- Subject Index
- Acronym and Abbreviation Index
Summary
We show how spatial light modulation allows one to optically compute an Ising Hamiltonian. This enables the use of optical radiation to accelerate algorithms to find the ground state and hence the optimal solution of a combinatorial optimization problem. The phase matrix on a spatial light modulator acts as a lattice of spins whose interaction is ruled by the constrained optical intensity in the far field. Feedback from the detection plane allows the spatial phase distribution to evolve toward the minimum of the selected spin model. Related topics such as annealing, adiabatic evolution, the XY model, and decomposition methods are reviewed.
Keywords
Information
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- Chapter
- Information
- Complex PhotonicsFundamentals, Spin Glasses, and Optical Computing, pp. 278 - 305Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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