MerLin - Photonic Quantum Machine Learning Framework

MerLin brings quantum computing capabilities to AI practitioners through easy-to-use PyTorch integrations. Named after the legendary wizard, MerLin adds quantum wizardry to your AI toolkit with no quantum expertise required.

Built for AI/ML practitioners: MerLin is designed to feel familiar to PyTorch users while unlocking the potential of quantum computing. Under the hood, it leverages photonic quantum computing - a cutting-edge approach using single-photons that’s hardware-aware and prepares your models for real quantum processors.

Simulation-first with hardware bridges: Optimized for classical simulation today, with connections to currently available photonic QPUs and pathways to next-generation quantum hardware.

Key Goals:

  • Paper Reproduction: Simple tools to reproduce published quantum ML papers and benchmark algorithms - see our reproduced papers list.

  • Quantum Architecture Bridge: Access to latest and next-gen quantum photonic architectures as a bridge between AI and quantum worlds - see our quantum architectures.

  • GPU-Optimized Performance: Fast simulation scaling up to 500+ mode chips with 10-20 photons near the simulability threshold - see performance benchmarks.

Together, these provide researchers with comprehensive tools for exploring and developing new quantum-classical hybrid algorithms.

Why Quantum Layers? Enable non-conventional operations in hybrid workflows that can help classical ML models improve performance, learn faster, or use fewer parameters.

Advanced users can leverage the underlying Perceval framework for custom models or advanced functionality.

Who Should Use MerLin?

  • AI/ML Practitioners: Add quantum layers to existing PyTorch models

  • Quantum Researchers: Experiment with photonic quantum computing

  • Enterprise Teams: Build future-proof quantum-AI applications

Installation

pip install merlinquantum

For development:

git clone https://github.com/merlinquantum/merlin.git
cd merlin
pip install -e ".[dev]"

Hello Quantum World!

The following shows how to create a very simple quantum layer using MerLin’s high-level API. This layer can be integrated into any PyTorch model, and supports usual PyTorch operations like training and inference.

import merlin as ML # Package: merlinquantum, import: merlin
import torch

# Create a simple quantum layer
quantum_layer = ML.QuantumLayer.simple(
    input_size=3,
    n_params=50  # Number of trainable quantum parameters
)

# Use it like any PyTorch layer
x = torch.rand(10, 3)
output = quantum_layer(x)
print(f"Input shape: {x.shape}, Output shape: {output.shape}")

Under the hood, this simple interface wraps complex photonic quantum operations — including architecture selection, ansatz design, input encoding, and photon number configuration. Learn more in our User Guide.

Learn More

  • Examples: Check the examples/ directory for tutorials

  • Notebooks: Explore docs/source/notebooks/ for interactive examples

Roadmap

  • v0.1: Initial release with core features

  • In development:

    • More circuit types and ansatz configurations

    • Improved documentation and examples

    • Integration with Quandela’s photonic hardware

    • additional machine learning models

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Here’s how to get started:

  1. Fork the repository

  2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature-name

  3. Test your changes: pytest tests/

  4. Submit a pull request

See our Contributing Guide for detailed guidelines.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

Support

⚡ Ready to add quantum power to your AI models? Get started with MerLin! ⚡