Quantum Circulator Simulator

Input Port

Bias Direction

Isolation leakage ε 0.02

Insertion loss 2%

Pulse rate 1.0 Hz

Output amplitude

Forward port

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Isolation

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How it works

An ideal quantum circulator is a non-reciprocal 3-port device: a signal entering one port exits only the next port in a fixed rotational order, and is (ideally) completely blocked from the port behind it. This asymmetry breaks time-reversal symmetry — physically via a synthetic magnetic bias (an artificial gauge field from time-modulated couplings between three resonators) — and is exactly what makes the device useful for routing quantum signals through a network without them bouncing back into the source.

Ideal:  S = | 0  0  1 |     Real device adds
            | 1  0  0 |     leakage ε into the
            | 0  1  0 |     "wrong" port too.

P(forward)  = (1 − loss)
P(backward) = ε · (1 − loss)   (should be ≪ 1)

Input port — where the pulse is launched into the ring.
Bias direction — reversing it reverses the whole circulation order (1→2→3→1 becomes 1→3→2→1), exactly as flipping an external field reverses a real circulator.
Isolation leakage ε — a real circulator never perfectly blocks the reverse path; this is the fraction of amplitude that still leaks backward. Lower is better; commercial devices reach ε well under 0.01 (>20 dB isolation).
Insertion loss — energy lost to absorption/scattering on every pass, reducing the forward amplitude below 1.

Real-world relevance: circulators sit at the front end of every superconducting-qubit readout chain, protecting fragile qubits from noise reflected back up the measurement line while routing the readout signal out to the amplifier — the routing hub of a quantum network node.

Forward pulse Leaked (reverse) Active port

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