Exploring models of associative memory via cavity quantum electrodynamics

Photons in multimode optical cavities can be used to mediate tailored interactions between atoms confined in the cavities. For atoms possessing multiple internal (i.e., “spin”) states, the spin–spin interactions mediated by the cavity are analogous in structure to the Ruderman–Kittel–Kasuya–Yosida (RKKY) interaction between localized spins in metals. Thus, in particular, it is possible to use atoms in cavities to realize models of frustrated and/or disordered spin systems, including models that can be mapped on to the Hopfield network model and related models of associative memory. We explain how this realization of models of associative memory comes about and discuss ways in which the properties of these models can be probed in a cavity-based setting.