# Initialize circuit with a mixed state?

**URL:** <https://discuss.pennylane.ai/t/initialize-circuit-with-a-mixed-state/845>\
**Category:** PennyLane Help\
**Created:** [February 11, 2021, 4:26pm UTC](https://discuss.pennylane.ai/t/initialize-circuit-with-a-mixed-state/845 "2021-02-11T16:26:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 2

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**Author:** ![theodor](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex012/user_avatar/discuss.pennylane.ai/theodor/32/178_2.png) [@theodor](https://discuss.pennylane.ai/u/theodor)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2021, 9:54pm UTC](https://discuss.pennylane.ai/t/initialize-circuit-with-a-mixed-state/845/2 "2021-02-11T21:54:07Z")

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Hi @bzzhang, and welcome to the Xanadu Discussion Forum!

Unfortunately, there’s no way to initialize a mixed state directly using a density matrix; you would have to create that state yourself using gates.

If you wish to simulate using mixed states you would have to use a mixed state simulator, e.g. `default.mixed` or `cirq.mixedsimulator`.

Let us know if you have any other questions or issues with this!

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