Quandary: An open-source C++ package for high-performance optimal control of open quantum systems

Abstract

Quantum optimal control can be used to shape the control pulses for realizing unitary and non-unitary transformations of quantum states. These control pulses provide the fundamental interface between the quantum compiler and the quantum hardware. Most current software for quantum optimal control (e.g. Qutip [1] or Krotov [2]) is restricted to run on shared memory platforms, limiting their applicability to smaller quantum systems, in particular if interactions with the environment are taken into account. This paper gives an overview of the open-source code Quandary, which is designed to solve quantum control problems in larger open quantum systems modelled by Lindblad’s master equation. Implemented in C++, Quandary uses the message passing paradigm for distributed memory computers that enables scalability to large numbers of compute cores. Accompanied by numerical examples, this paper presents an overview on existing theoretical developments for open optimal quantum control realizing state-to-state transfer, unitary gate optimization as well as state-preparation, and presents the numerical tools and implementation aspect as realized in Quandary, for deployment on modern high-performance computing platforms.