Simulating the vibrational quantum dynamics of molecules using photonics

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Documents

  • Chris Sparrow
  • Enrique Martin-Lopez
  • Nicola Maraviglia
  • Alex Neville
  • Christopher Harrold
  • Jacques Carolan
  • Yogesh N. Joglekar
  • Toshikazu Hashimoto
  • Nobuyuki Matsuda
  • Jeremy L. O'Brien
  • David P. Tew
  • Anthony Laing

Advances in control techniques for vibrational quantum states in molecules present new challenges for modelling such systems, which could be amenable to quantum simulation methods. Here, by exploiting a natural mapping between vibrations in molecules and photons in waveguides, we demonstrate a reprogrammable photonic chip as a versatile simulation platform for a range of quantum dynamic behaviour in different molecules. We begin by simulating the time evolution of vibrational excitations in the harmonic approximation for several four-atom molecules, including H2CS, SO3, HNCO, HFHF, N-4 and P-4. We then simulate coherent and dephased energy transport in the simplest model of the peptide bond in proteins-N-methylacetamide-and simulate thermal relaxation and the effect of anharmonicities in H2O. Finally, we use multi-photon statistics with a feedback control algorithm to iteratively identify quantum states that increase a particular dissociation pathway of NH3. These methods point to powerful new simulation tools for molecular quantum dynamics and the field of femtochemistry.

Original languageEnglish
JournalNature
Volume557
Issue number7707
Pages (from-to)660-667
Number of pages8
ISSN0028-0836
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 31 May 2018
Externally publishedYes

    Research areas

  • SINGLE-PHOTON, LINEAR OPTICS, COMPUTATION, LIGHT, WATER, PURE

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