We introduce Strawberry Fields, an open-source quantum programming
architecture for light-based quantum computers, and detail its key features.
Built in Python, Strawberry Fields is a full-stack library for design,
simulation, optimization, and quantum machine learning of continuous-variable
circuits. The platform consists of three main components: (i) an API for
quantum programming based on an easy-to-use language named Blackbird; (ii) a
suite of three virtual quantum computer backends, built in NumPy and
TensorFlow, each targeting specialized uses; and (iii) an engine which can
compile Blackbird programs on various backends, including the three built-in
simulators, and -- in the near future -- photonic quantum information
processors. The library also contains examples of several paradigmatic
algorithms, including teleportation, (Gaussian) boson sampling, instantaneous
quantum polynomial, Hamiltonian simulation, and variational quantum circuit
optimization.Comment: Try the Strawberry Fields Interactive website, located at
http://strawberryfields.ai . Source code available at
https://github.com/XanaduAI/strawberryfields. Accepted in Quantu