[HN Gopher] Show HN: Zero-power photonic language model-code
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       Show HN: Zero-power photonic language model-code
        
       The model uses a 1024-dimensional complex Hilbert space with 32
       layers of programmable Mach-Zehnder meshes (Reck architecture) and
       derives token probabilities directly via the Born rule.  Despite
       using only unitary operations and no attention mechanism, a 1024x32
       model achieves coherent TinyStories generation after < 1.8 hours of
       training on a single consumer GPU.  This is Part 1 - the next step
       is physical implementation with $50 of optics from AliExpress.
        
       Author : damir00
       Score  : 5 points
       Date   : 2025-11-29 18:45 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (zenodo.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (zenodo.org)
        
       | tliltocatl wrote:
       | Stupid question - how is it even possible given that you lose
       | information on each layer? And how do one implement a non-linear
       | activation function without an amplifier of a sort?
        
         | IronyMan100 wrote:
         | Normally in this kind of systems, the detection is the
         | nonlinearity. That is, you send light through the system, the
         | light can interfere, Changes path through the system but in the
         | end you can detect only the intensities, |E|^2.
        
       | ifuknowuknow wrote:
       | meds
        
       | bastawhiz wrote:
       | This is a neat idea, but it's extremely light (no pun intended)
       | on real details. Translating a simulation into real hardware that
       | can do real computation in a reliable manner is properly hard. As
       | much as I'd love to be an optimist about this project, I have to
       | say I'll believe it when I see it actually running on a
       | workbench.
       | 
       | If it does work, I think one of the biggest challenges will be
       | adding enough complexity to it for it to do real, useful
       | computation. Running the equivalent of GPT-2 is a cool tech demo,
       | but if there's not an obvious path to scaling it up, it's a bit
       | of a dead end.
        
       | cpldcpu wrote:
       | "Zero power" does not include the power needed to translate
       | information between electronic and optical domains and the light
       | source itself.
        
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       (page generated 2025-11-29 23:01 UTC)