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American Journal of Physics

Using quantum computers to simulate single-photon Mach–Zehnder interferometers

S. Kang, Z. He, S. Banerjee, James K. Freericks

Published Feb 19, 2026• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Mach–Zehnder interferometers are commonly introduced in quantum mechanics instruction because they can be represented as two-state systems. With the availability of quantum computers in the cloud, we show how one can also simulate these experiments as perfect single-photon experiments, via quantum computer circuits. This simulation provides a great opportunity to bring quantum computation and single-quantum experiments into the physics classroom and to teach quantum computing via simulation rather than computer science-based algorithms.

DOI
10.1119/5.0268545

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Mach–Zehnder interferometers are commonly introduced in quantum mechanics instruction because they can be represented as two-state systems. With the availability of quantum computers in the cloud, we show how one can also simulate these experiments as perfect single-photon experiments, via quantum computer circuits. This simulation provides a great opportunity to bring quantum computation and single-quantum experiments into the physics classroom and to teach quantum computing via simulation rather than computer science-based algorithms.
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Abstract To introduce the fundamental concepts and formalism of Quantum Mechanics at the base of Quantum Calculus and Quantum Cryptography we developed an experiment-based module centered on the use of a Mach-Zehnder laser interferometer equipped with linear polarizers. By analyzing the constructive and destructive interference, students are guided to understand the meaning of mutual exclusivity and incompatibility of polarization states (H, V) and (45°, 135°). A MATLAB simulation allows the understanding of the experimental results in terms of single photons. The module was tested as a pilot intervention on a group of Computer Science PhD students at the University of Verona.
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