A portable quantum simulator on a silicon chip

Mher Ghulinyan, Senior researcher at the Fondazione Bruno Kessler’s Centre for Sensors and Devices, tells us about the EPIQUS project and the creation of a cost-effective, user-friendly, and high-performance quantum simulator based on full integration of silicon nitride photonics with silicon electronics. A cornerstone for the future of experimentation, simulators allow real-world scenarios and conditions to be explored without the associated risks, costs, or time restrictions imposed by the real world. From transport to medicine, agriculture to finance, many sectors use simulators to approximate, predict and model real-world scenarios to test ideas, gather information, and refine operations. Integrating the nature and behaviour of matter and energy on atomic and subatomic scales creates a more authentic virtual world in which simulations can run following the rules of quantum mechanics to model new smart materials, predict chemical reactions, or solve high-energy physics problems. However, the ways to access quantum behaviours are often hampered by the need for complex conditions and costly solutions. The EPIQUS project, funded by the EU Horizon 2020 – Future Emerging Technologies initiative, is creating a lab-accessible and affordable quantum simulator (QS) operable at room temperature. Such a quantum simulator has the potential to provide many advantages, including supporting rapid and widespread innovation.