A computational toolbox for quantum and atomic optics

A collection of routines is described which largely automates the process of generating the quantum mechanical equations of motion for problems involving systems with relatively few degrees of freedom. Their use allows the user to adopt a high-level approach to writing simulation programs which concentrates on the physics of the problem, rather than on the details of the solution. Examples are taken from the fields of quantum and atomic optics, but the toolbox is also useful for problems involving quantum information and in teaching quantum mechanics. The toolbox has been implemented using the Matlab programming language, but the ideas may be applied to any other object-oriented language.