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, N4 and P4. 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.By mapping vibrations in molecules to photons in waveguides, the vibrational quantum dynamics of various molecules are simulated using a photonic chip.

中文翻译：

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使用光子学模拟分子的振动量子动力学

分子中振动量子态控制技术的进步为此类系统建模提出了新的挑战，这可能适用于量子模拟方法。在这里，通过利用分子振动和波导中的光子之间的自然映射，我们展示了一种可重新编程的光子芯片作为不同分子中一系列量子动力学行为的通用模拟平台。我们首先模拟几种四原子分子（包括 H2CS、SO3、HNCO、HFHF、N4 和 P4）的谐波近似中振动激发的时间演化。然后，我们在最简单的蛋白质肽键模型——N-甲基乙酰胺——中模拟相干和相分离的能量传输，并模拟热弛豫和 H2O 中非谐波的影响。最后，我们使用多光子统计和反馈控制算法来迭代识别增加 NH3 特定解离途径的量子态。这些方法为分子量子动力学和飞秒化学领域提供了强大的新模拟工具。通过将分子中的振动映射到波导中的光子，使用光子芯片模拟各种分子的振动量子动力学。