"A Quantum Etch-a-sketch": Reconfigurable quantum circuitry using chiral light

Superconducting wires coupled together to form Josephson junctions are used to construct quantum bits (qubits) used in quantum computers designed and built by Intel, Google, IBM and others. As with classical computers the architectures of these devices are physically fixed. Consequently, they cannot physically display neural plasticity, a prerequisite for learning, in which neural networks in brains change through growth and re-organisation. Thus, artificial neural networks are mostly run as classical algorithms. The desire to advance Artificial Intelligence (AI) has driven interest in physical neural networks, although current technologies cannot replicate physically the evolving nature of the brain. We propose a new paradigm for creating reconfigurable Josephson based qubits that can mimic the plasticity of neural networks and synaptic connections in biological systems. The concept is based on the ability to reversibly spatially control the TC of a ceramic through the exchange of angular momentum (either spin or orbital) from a light beam. The strain induced by the torque created by the exchange of angular momentum, is equivalent to that required to increase the TC of a ceramic such as yttrium barium cuprates (YBCO) by several K. Thus circuits / qubits can be reversibly created by illuminating a pattern on a macroscopic slab of ceramic, the unilluminated areas remain insulating. By changing the pattern of illumination quantum circuitry can be reconfigured. The concept presages the next step in AI offering the opportunity of self-evolving quantum computers