Visualizing quantum mechanics in an interactive simulation -- Virtual Lab by Quantum Flytrap

Abstract

Virtual Lab by Quantum Flytrap explores novel ways to represent quantum phenomena interactively and intuitively. It is a no-code online laboratory with a real-time simulation of an optical table, supporting up to three entangled photons. Users can place typical optical elements (such as beam splitters, polarizers, Faraday rotators, and detectors) with a drag-and-drop graphical interface. Virtual Lab operates in two modes. The sandbox mode allows users to compose arbitrary setups. Quantum Game serves as an introduction to Virtual Lab features, approachable for users with no prior exposure to quantum mechanics. We introduce novel ways of visualizing entangled quantum states and displaying entanglement measures, including interactive visualizations of the ket notation and a heatmap-like visualization of quantum operators. These quantum visualizations can be applied to any discrete quantum system, including quantum circuits with qubits and spin chains. These tools are available as open-source TypeScript packages - Quantum Tensor and BraKetVue. Virtual Lab makes it possible to explore the nature of quantum physics (state evolution, entanglement, and measurement), to simulate quantum computing (e.g. the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm), to use quantum cryptography (e.g. the Ekert protocol), to explore counterintuitive quantum phenomena (e.g. quantum teleportation & the Bell inequality violation), and to recreate historical experiments (e.g. the Michelson-Morley interferometer). Virtual Lab is available at: https://lab.quantumflytrap.com.