Heuristic algorithms to solve combinatorial problems with photonics

Combinatorial problems, such as the Ising problem, are hard to solve with conventional electronics. Photonic systems have recently been proposed as an efficient platform to solve these problems faster and more efficiently, thus calling for the development of featured algorithms to run on photonic machines. A few recent findings, including the Photonic Recurrent Ising Sampler, a photonic machine that recurrently solves arbitrary Ising problems, will be presented in this talk, along with their experimental realizations in various platforms.