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Berry's phase on photonic quantum computers

Steven Abel1,2,*, Iwo Wasek2,†, and Simon Williams1,‡

  • *Contact author: s.a.abel@durham.ac.uk
  • †Contact author: iwo.a.wasek@durham.ac.uk
  • ‡Contact author: simon.j.williams@durham.ac.uk
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Phys. Rev. A 114, 012461 – Published 27 July, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/v1hx-rh26

Abstract

We formulate a continuous-variable quantum computing (CVQC) algorithm to study Berry's phase on photonic quantum computers. We demonstrate that CVQC allows the simulation of charged particles with orbital angular momentum under the influence of an adiabatically changing B⃗ field. Although formulated entirely in the CVQC setting, our construction uses only passive linear-optical operations (beam splitters and phase shifts), which act identically in single-photon photonic architectures. This enables experimental realization on the quandela ascella platform, where we observe the Berry's phase phenomenon with interferometric measurement. We also generalize the framework to more rapid nonadiabatic evolution. By concatenating Aharonov-Anandan cycles for opposing magnetic fields we demonstrate that one can engineer a circuit in which dynamical phases and leading nongeometric errors cancel by symmetry, leaving the intrinsically robust geometric phase contribution.

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Outline

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Phys. Rev. A 114, 012461– Published 27 July, 2026
  • Received 16 December 2025
  • Revised 1 June 2026
  • Accepted 6 July 2026
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