Program
NSF Expedition / Coherent Ising Machines
Advanced photonic computing for hard optimization.
Cohesing connects researchers in nonlinear photonics, quantum optics, optimization, machine learning and benchmarking. Explore recent results from the NSF Expedition collaboration, from programmable photonic processors to practical Ising solvers and the human dimensions of computing.
Program readout
Physics, photonics, optimization.
Focus
Coherent Ising Machines
Mode
Photonic optimization R&D
Research map
Five connected areas.
fundamentals
Fundamentals
Physical dynamics beyond conventional digital electronics as foundations for hard optimization.
generalizations
Generalizations
Coherent Ising Machines as a reference architecture for broader coherent network computing.
applications
Applications
Practical uses of CIMs and related architectures for real-world optimization.
benchmarking
Benchmarking
Principled comparisons among unconventional, quantum, and conventional optimization approaches.
participation
Broadening Participation in Computing
Education and participation studies connected to computer science identity and persistence.
Latest
News from the project.
Research and collaboration highlights, reviewed October 2, 2026.
Updated preprint
A parallel probabilistic Ising processor for real-time applications
Cornell, Princeton and USRA collaborators updated their preprint on a densely connected probabilistic Ising machine. First submitted in April, the study connects FPGA hardware evaluation with wireless MIMO detection and acknowledges NSF 1918549.
Read the sourceQuantum optics
Modeling loss in broadband quantum optical cavities
Chris Gustin and collaborators develop a cavity-QED treatment for broadband and ultrastrong light–matter interactions. The paper lists Stanford and international affiliations and acknowledges the Expedition grant.
Read the sourceSoftware
QUBO.jl connects optimization models with Ising solvers
A new journal paper documents the Julia software ecosystem for QUBO reformulation and solver access. Authors span Brazilian institutions, USRA, NASA Ames and Purdue; David E. Bernal Neira acknowledges Expedition support.
Read the source