Scientists at the Institute for Photonic Quantum Systems (PhoQS) and the Paderborn Center for Parallel Computing (PC2) at Paderborn University have developed a powerful open-source software tool that allows them to simulate light behaviour in quantum systems. The unique feature of this tool, named ‘Phoenix’, is that researchers can use it to very quickly investigate complex effects to a level of detail that was previously unknown, and all without needing knowledge of high-performance computing. The results have now been published in the renowned trade journal Computer Physics Communications.
Phoenix solves equations that describe how light interacts with material at the quantum level, which is essential for understanding and for the design of future technologies such as quantum computers and advanced photonic devices. ‘More specifically, we are looking here at so-called non-linear Schrödinger and Gross-Pitaevskii equations in two spatial dimensions. Phoenix’s design means that it can run on standard laptops or high-performance GPUs and is up to a thousand times faster and up to 99.8 percent more energy-efficient than conventional tools’, explains Professor Stefan Schumacher from PhoQS.
Phoenix is available to researchers anywhere in the world free of charge. The software is already being used to study new physical effects in rare quantum states of light and has the ability to help scientists to better understand and monitor light at the smallest scales.
PhD student Jan Wingenbach, who is the lead author of the current study, adds that: ‘Optimisation to the current level was only possible through our close cooperation with the HPC experts from PC2’. HPC or High Performance Computing is one of the central research focuses at Paderborn University, which not only has a long tradition and relevant expertise in the field of computational science, but also offers world-class, state-of-the-art infrastructure. A large part of the computing capacity is also being made available to researchers from all over the country under the NHR Alliance. Only recently, at ISC in Hamburg, the international trade fair for high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, data analytics and quantum computing, the new Paderborn supercomputer ‘Otus’ was placed fifth in the ‘Green 500’ list of the world's most efficient computing systems.
PhoQS is setting the tone worldwide in the field of photonics and quantum research. It is conducting excellent research in the areas of quantum simulation, communication, metrology and computing thanks to an interdisciplinary team of experts from the fields of Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. The first light-based quantum computer in Germany (PaQS) began its work last year in Paderborn.
‘This synergy between cutting-edge research in quantum photonics and high-performance computing has made it possible for us to extend the limits of computing power and capability’, adds Dr. Robert Schade, research assistant and HPC expert at PC2. Preliminary versions of the Phoenix code have already contributed to important breakthroughs in quantum photonics. According to the team, the program will be an important computational tool for research into new photonic states and their interactions.
Information for the trade press
Previous versions of Phoenix have been used, among other things, to model optically controllable photonic bits in a quantum fluid made up of hybrid light and matter particles, in which a controlled switching of optical vortices was demonstrated in cooperation with TU Dortmund as part of the Collaborative Research Centre/TRR142. They also supported fundamental studies on macroscopic analogues of qubits, the investigation of split-ring polariton condensates as two-level quantum systems and research into quantum coherence in polariton condensates, which enabled ultra-fast, time-resolved tomography of quantum states of complex condensed systems, also in cooperation with TU Dortmund as part of TRR142.
These studies will now be expanded considerably with the complete publication of Phoenix. The software will play a vital role in the further development of research at PhoQS, particularly in quantum information processing and hybrid photon-matter-quantum systems.
Phoenix is now accessible to the global research community as an open-access software tool, promoting progress in disciplines ranging from non-linear optics to quantum computer technology.
Jan Wingenbach presented the project last week at a physics symposium, the OECS19 Conference in Warsaw, where he won the Best Poster Award.
The research paper: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010465525001912
More information and access to Phoenix: https://github.com/Schumacher-Group-UPB/PHOENIX
Journal
Computer Physics Communications