Dispersive and dissipative coupling of photon Bose-Einstein condensates: -

Coupled networks of photon Bose-Einstein condensates (pBECs) can be used as a powerful tool for solving NP-hard optimization tasks, such as the traveling salesman (TVS) problem . In these networks, the sign and magnitude of couplings can encode these optimization tasks. Finding the phase configuration that minimizes the overall energy is then equal to finding a solution to the encoded problem. In these systems, the coupling is the most important parameter that determines speed and overall dynamics of the system. There are two ways to achieve coupling, direct particle exchange (dispersive) or loss modulation (dissipative). In this work, we investigate the two types of coupling using two pBEC coupler designs. Characterization of both couplers, using time-resolved and time-averaged measurements, shows fundamentally different dynamics for each case.