SOQCS: A Stochastic Optical Quantum Circuit Simulator

TL;DR

SOQCS is a modular, flexible simulator for quantum optical circuits that models imperfections like photon distinguishability and losses, aiding research and development in quantum optics.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive, modular simulation framework for quantum optical circuits with detailed modeling of realistic imperfections.

Findings

Supports defining complex quantum optical circuits with various components.

Simulates effects of imperfections such as photon distinguishability and losses.

Provides tools for analyzing and post-processing quantum optical experiments.

Abstract

We present Stochastic Optical Quantum Circuit Simulator (SOQCS) C++/Python library for the simulation of quantum optical circuits, and we provide its implementation details. SOQCS offers a framework to define, simulate and study quantum linear optical circuits in the presence of various imperfections. These come from partial distinguishability of photons, lossy propagation media, unbalanced beamsplitters and non-ideal emitters and detectors for example. SOQCS is developed as a series of different modules which provide quantum circuits, different simulator cores and tools to analyze the output. Quantum circuits can be defined from basic components, including emitters, linear optical elements, delays and detectors. Post-selection can be configured straightforwardly as part of detector definitions. An important attribute of SOQCS is its modularity which allows for its further development in the future.