The quantum random walk has been much studied recently, largely due to its highly nonclassical behavior. In this paper, we study one possible route to classical behavior for the discrete quantum walk on the line: the presence of decoherence in the quantum ``coin'' which drives the walk. We find exact analytical expressions for the time dependence of the first two moments of position, and show that in the long-time limit the variance grows linearly with time, unlike the unitary walk. We compare this to the results of direct numerical simulation, and see how the form of the position distribution changes from the unitary to the usual classical result as we increase the strength of the decoherence.
We consider the effect of different unitary noise mechanisms on the evolution of a quantum walk (QW) on a linear chain with a generic coin operation: (i) bit-flip channel noise, restricted to the coin subspace of the QW, and (ii) topological noise caused by randomly broken links in the linear chain. Similarities and differences in the respective decoherent dynamics of the walker as a function of the probability per unit time of a decoherent event taking place are discussed.
We have derived an analytical expression for variance of homogeneous-position decoherent quantum walk (HPDQW) with general form of noise on its position, and have shown that, while the quadratic ($t^2$) term of variance never changes by position decoherency, the linear term ($t$) does and always increases the variance. We study the walker with ability to tunnel out to $d$ nearest neighbors as an example and compare our result with former studies. We also show that, although our expression have been derived for asymptotic case, the rapid decay of time-dependent terms cause the expressions to be…
The behaviors of one-dimensional quantum random walks are strikingly different from those of classical ones. However, when decoherence is involved, the limiting distributions take on many classical features over time. In this paper, we study the decoherence on both position and ``coin'' spaces of the particle. We propose a new analytical approach to investigate these phenomena and obtain the generating functions which encode all the features of these walks. Specifically, from these generating functions, we find exact analytic expressions of several moments for the time and noise dependence of …
Quantum walk acts obviously different from its classical counterpart, but decoherence will lessen and close the gap between them. To understand this process, it is necessary to investigate the evolution of quantum walk under different situation of decoherence. In this article, we study a non-Markovian decoherent quantum walk on a line. In the short time regime, the behavior of the walk deviates from both idea quantum walks and classical random walks. The position variance as a measure of quantum walk starts oscillating from the first several steps and tends to be linear on time and showing a d…
A number of recent studies have investigated the introduction of decoherence in quantum walks and the resulting transition to classical random walks. Interestingly, it has been shown that algorithmic properties of quantum walks with decoherence such as the spreading rate are sometimes better than their purely quantum counterparts. Not only quantum walks with decoherence provide a generalization of quantum walks that naturally encompasses both the quantum and classical case, but they also give rise to new and different probability distribution. The application of quantum walks with decoherence …
In this paper we consider the model with decoherence operators introduced by [Brun,T.A, et.al, Phys.Rev.A 67 (2003) 032304] which has recently been considered in the two-dimensional setting by [Ampadu,C., Brun-Type Formalism for Decoherence in Two Dimensional Quantum Walks, Communication in Theoretical Physics To Appear, arXiv:1104.2061 (2011)] to obtain the limit of the decoherent quantum walk.
The quantum and classical behaviors of two-dimensional (2D) alternative quantum walk (AQW) in the presence of decoherence have been discussed in detail. For any kinds of decoherence, the analytic expressions for the moments of position distribution of AQW have been obtained. Taking the broken line noise and coin-decoherence as examples of decoherence, we find that when the decoherence only emerges in one direction, the anisotropic position distribution pattern appears, and not all the motions of quantum walkers exhibit the transition from quantum to classical behaviors. The correlations betwee…
The classicalization of a decoherent discrete-time quantum walk on a line or an n-cycle can be demonstrated in various ways that do not necessarily provide a geometry-independent description. For example, the position probability distribution becomes increasingly Gaussian, with a concomitant fall in the standard deviation, in the former case, but not in the latter. As another example, each step of the quantum walk on a line may be subjected to an arbitrary phase gate, without affecting the position probability distribution, no matter whether the walk is noiseless or noisy. This symmetry, which…
In quantum computation theory, quantum random walks have been utilized by many quantum search algorithms which provide improved performance over their classical counterparts. However, due to the importance of the quantum decoherence phenomenon, decoherent quantum walks and their applications have been studied on a wide variety of structures. Recently, a unified time-inhomogeneous coin-turning random walk with rescaled limiting distributions, Bernoulli, uniform, arcsine and semi-circle laws as parameter varies have been obtained. In this paper we study the quantum analogue of these models. We o…
In the arrival time problem in quantum mechanics, a standard formula that frequently emerges as the probability for crossing the origin during a given time interval is the current integrated over that time interval. This is semiclassically correct but can be negative due to backflow. Here, we show that this formula naturally arises in a decoherent histories analysis of the arrival time problem. For a variety of initial states, we show that histories crossing during different time intervals are approximately decoherent. Probabilities may therefore be assigned and coincide with the standard form…
The predictions of the Bohmian and the decoherent (or consistent) histories formulations of the quantum mechanics of a closed system are compared for histories -- sequences of alternatives at a series of times. For certain kinds of histories, Bohmian mechanics and decoherent histories may both be formulated in the same mathematical framework within which they can be compared. In that framework, Bohmian mechanics and decoherent histories represent a given history by different operators. Their predictions for the probabilities of histories therefore generally differ. However, in an idealized mod…
In this paper we study decoherence in the quantum walk on the line. We generalize the method of decoherent coin quantum walk, introduced by Brun et al [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 67}, 32304 (2003)]. Our analytical expressions are applicable for all kinds of decoherence. As an example of the coin-position decoherence, we study the broken line quantum walk and compare our results with the numerical one. We also show that our analytical results reduce to the Brun formalism when only the coin is subjected to decoherence.
Most approximation algorithms for #P-complete problems (e.g., evaluating the permanent of a matrix or the volume of a polytope) work by reduction to the problem of approximate sampling from a distribution $π$ over a large set $§$. This problem is solved using the {\em Markov chain Monte Carlo} method: a sparse, reversible Markov chain $P$ on $§$ with stationary distribution $π$ is run to near equilibrium. The running time of this random walk algorithm, the so-called {\em mixing time} of $P$, is $O(δ^{-1} \log 1/π_*)$ as shown by Aldous, where $δ$ is the spectral gap of $P$ and $π_*$ is the min…
In this article we investigate the effects of shifting position decoherence, arisen from the tunneling effect in the experimental realization of the quantum walk, on the one-dimensional discreet time quantum walk. We show that in the regime of this type of noise the quantum behavior of the walker does not fade, in contrary to the coin decoherence for which the walker undergos the quantum-to-classical transition even for weak noise. Particularly, we show that the quadratic dependency of the variance on the time and also the coin-position entanglement, i.e. two important quantum aspects of the c…
We analyze in detail the discrete--time quantum walk on the line by separating the quantum evolution equation into Markovian and interference terms. As a result of this separation, it is possible to show analytically that the quadratic increase in the variance of the quantum walker's position with time is a direct consequence of the coherence of the quantum evolution. If the evolution is decoherent, as in the classical case, the variance is shown to increase linearly with time, as expected. Furthermore we show that this system has an evolution operator analogous to that of a resonant quantum k…
In this paper, we study mixing and large decoherence in continuous-time quantum walks on one dimensional regular networks, which are constructed by connecting each node to its $2l$ nearest neighbors($l$ on either side). In our investigation, the nodes of network are represented by a set of identical tunnel-coupled quantum dots in which decoherence is induced by continuous monitoring of each quantum dot with nearby point contact detector. To formulate the decoherent CTQWs, we use Gurvitz model and then calculate probability distribution and the bounds of instantaneous and average mixing times. …
This paper explores the possibility that an exactly decoherent set of histories may be constructed from an approximately decoherent set by small distortions of the operators characterizing the histories. In particular, for the case of histories of positions and momenta, this is achieved by doubling the set of operators and then finding, amongst this enlarged set, new position and momentum operators which commute, so decohere exactly, and which are ``close'' to the original operators. The enlarged, exactly decoherent, theory has the same classical dynamics as the original one, and coincides wit…
We present a mathematical formalism for the description of unrestricted quantum walks with entangled coins and one walker. The numerical behaviour of such walks is examined when using a Bell state as the initial coin state, two different coin operators, two different shift operators, and one walker. We compare and contrast the performance of these quantum walks with that of a classical random walk consisting of one walker and two maximally correlated coins as well as quantum walks with coins sharing different degrees of entanglement. We illustrate that the behaviour of our walk with entangled …
We investigate the quantum walk on the line when decoherences are introduced either through simultaneous measurements of the chirality and particle position, or as a result of broken links. Both mechanisms drive the system to a classical diffusive behavior. In the case of measurements, we show that the diffusion coefficient is proportional to the variance of the initially localized quantum random walker just before the first measurement. When links between neighboring sites are randomly broken with probability $p$ per unit time, the evolution becomes decoherent after a characteristic time that…
We report on the possibility of controlling quantum random walks with a step-dependent coin. The coin is characterized by a (single) rotation angle. Considering different rotation angles, one can find diverse probability distributions for this walk including: complete localization, Gaussian and asymmetric likes. In addition, we explore the entropy of walk in two contexts; for probability density distributions over position space and walker's internal degrees of freedom space (coin space). We show that entropy of position space can decrease for a step-dependent coin with the step-number, quite …
We introduce and analyze a one-dimensional quantum walk with two time-independent rotations on the coin. We study the influence on the property of quantum walk due to the second rotation on the coin. Based on the asymptotic solution in the long time limit, a ballistic behaviour of this walk is observed. This quantum walk retains the quadratic growth of the variance if the combined operator of the coin rotations is unitary. That confirms no localization exhibits in this walk. This result can be extended to the walk with multiple time-independent rotations on the coin.
We consider two independent quantum walks on separate lines augmented by partial or full swapping of coins after each step. For classical random walks, swapping or not swapping coins makes little difference to the random walk characteristics, but we show that quantum walks with partial swapping of coins have complicated yet elegant inter-walker correlations. Specifically we study the joint position distribution of the reduced two-walker state after tracing out the coins and analyze total, classical and quantum correlations in terms of the mutual information, the quantum mutual information, and…
A coinless, discrete-time quantum walk possesses a Hilbert space whose dimension is smaller compared to the widely-studied coined walk. Coined walks require the direct product of the site basis with the coin space, coinless walks operate purely in the site basis, which is clearly minimal. These coinless quantum walks have received considerable attention recently because they have evolution operators that can be obtained by a graphical method based on lattice tessellations and they have been shown to be as efficient as the best known coined walks when used as a quantum search algorithm. We argu…
The connection between coined and continuous-time quantum walk models has been addressed in a number of papers. In most of those studies, the continuous-time model is derived from coined quantum walks by employing dimensional reduction and taking appropriate limits. In this work, we produce the evolution of a coined quantum walk on a generic graph using a continuous-time quantum walk on a larger graph. In addition to expanding the underlying structure, we also have to switch on and off edges during the continuous-time evolution to accommodate the alternation between the shift and coin operator…
We demonstrate a quantum walk with time-dependent coin bias. With this technique we realize an experimental single-photon one-dimensional quantum walk with a linearly-ramped time-dependent coin flip operation and thereby demonstrate two periodic revivals of the walker distribution. In our beam-displacer interferometer, the walk corresponds to movement between discretely separated transverse modes of the field serving as lattice sites, and the time-dependent coin flip is effected by implementing a different angle between the optical axis of half-wave plate and the light propagation at each step…
We introduce some new perfect state transfer and teleportation schemes by quantum walks with two coins. Encoding the transferred information in coin 1 state and alternatively using two coin operators, we can perfectly recover the information on coin 1 state at target position only by at most two times of flipping operation. Based on quantum walks with two coins either on the line or on the $N$-circle, we can perfectly transfer any qubit state. In addition, using quantum walks with two coins either on complete graphs or regular graphs, we can first implement perfect qudit state transfer by quan…
Szegedy's quantum walk is a quantization of a classical random walk or Markov chain, where the walk occurs on the edges of the bipartite double cover of the original graph. To search, one can simply quantize a Markov chain with absorbing vertices. Recently, Santos proposed two alternative search algorithms that instead utilize the sign-flip oracle in Grover's algorithm rather than absorbing vertices. In this paper, we show that these two algorithms are exactly equivalent to two algorithms involving coined quantum walks, which are walks on the vertices of the original graph with an internal deg…
We present the first robust implementation of a coined quantum walk over five steps using only passive optical elements. By employing a fiber network loop we keep the amount of required resources constant as the walker's position Hilbert space is increased. We observed a non-Gaussian distribution of the walker's final position, thus characterizing a faster spread of the photon wave-packet in comparison to the classical random walk. The walk is realized for many different coin settings and initial states, which opens the way for the implementation of a quantum walk-based search algorithm.
We advance the previous studies of quantum walks on the line with two coins. Such four-state quantum walks driven by a three-direction shift operator may have nonzero stationary distributions (localization), thus distinguishing themselves from the quantum walks on the line in the basic scenario (i.e., driven by a single coin). In this work, asymptotic position distributions of the quantum walks are examined. We derive a weak limit for the quantum walks and explicit formulas of stationary probability distribution, whose dependencies on the coin parameter and the initial state of quantum walks a…
We investigated discrete-time quantum walks with an arbitary unitary coin. Here we discover that the average position $<x> =\max(<x> \sin(α+γ)$, while the initial state is $1/\sqrt{2}(\mid0L>+i\mid0R>)$. We prove the result and get some symmetry properties of quantum walks with a U(2) coin with $\mid0L>$ and $\mid0R>$ as the initial state.
We generalize the discrete quantum walk on the line using a time dependent unitary coin operator. We find an analytical relation between the long-time behaviors of the standard deviation and the coin operator. Selecting the coin time sequence allows to obtain a variety of predetermined asymptotic wave-function spreadings: ballistic, sub-ballistic, diffusive, sub-diffusive and localized.
Within a special multi-coin quantum walk scheme we analyze the effect of the entanglement of the initial coin state. For states with a special entanglement structure it is shown that this entanglement can be meausured with the mean value of the walk, which depends on the i-concurrence of the initial coin state. Further on the entanglement evolution is investigated and it is shown that the symmetry of the probability distribution is reflected by the symmetry of the entanglement distribution.
Coined quantum walks may be interpreted as the motion in position space of a quantum particle with a spin degree of freedom; the dynamics are determined by iterating a unitary transformation which is the product of a spin transformation and a translation conditional on the spin state. Coined quantum walks on the d-dimensional lattice can be treated as special cases of coined quantum walks on d-dimensional Euclidean space. We study quantum walks on d-dimensional Euclidean space and prove that the sequence of rescaled probability distributions in position space associated to the unitary evolutio…
We present a generalized version of the discrete time quantum walk, using the SU(2) operation as the quantum coin. By varying the coin parameters, the quantum walk can be optimized for maximum variance subject to the functional form $σ^2 \approx N^2$ and the probability distribution in the position space can be biased. We also discuss the variation in measurement entropy with the variation of the parameters in the SU(2) coin. Exploiting this we show how quantum walk can be optimized for improving mixing time in an $n$-cycle and for quantum walk search.
We give a characterization of the line digraph of a regular digraph. We make use of the characterization, to show that the underlying digraph of a coined quantum random walk is a line digraph. We remark the connection between line digraphs and in-split graphs in symbolic dynamics.
The dimensionality of the internal coin space of discrete-time quantum walks has a strong impact on the complexity and richness of the dynamics of quantum walkers. While two-dimensional coin operators are sufficient to define a certain range of dynamics on complex graphs, higher dimensional coins are necessary to unleash the full potential of discrete-time quantum walks. In this work we present an experimental realization of a discrete-time quantum walk on a line graph that, instead of two-dimensional, exhibits a four-dimensional coin space. Making use of the extra degree of freedom we observe…
We study decoherence in the quantum walk on the xy-plane. We generalize the method of decoherent coin quantum walk, introduced by [T.A. Brun, et.al, Phys.Rev.A 67 (2003) 032304],which could be applicable to all sorts of decoherence in two dimensional quantum walks, irrespective of the unitary transformation governing the walk. As an application we study decoherence in the presence of broken line noise in which the quantum walk is governed by the two-dimensional Hadamard operator.
Quantum walks have emerged as an interesting approach to quantum information processing, exhibiting many unique properties compared to the analogous classical random walk. Here we introduce a model for a discrete-time quantum walk with memory by endowing the walker with multiple recycled coins and using a physical memory function via a history dependent coin flip. By numerical simulation we observe several phenomena. First in one dimension, walkers with memory have persistent quantum ballistic speed up over classical walks just as found in previous studies of multi-coined walks with trivial me…
In discrete time, coined quantum walks, the coin degrees of freedom offer the potential for a wider range of controls over the evolution of the walk than are available in the continuous time quantum walk. This paper explores some of the possibilities on regular graphs, and also reports periodic behaviour on small cyclic graphs.
Recent results on the decoherent histories quantization of simple cosmological models (minisuperspace models) are described. The most important issue is the construction, from the wave function, of a probability distribution answering various questions of physical interest, such as the probability of the system entering a given region of configuration space at any stage in its entire history. A standard but heuristic procedure is to use the flux of (components of) the wave function in a WKB approximation as the probability. This gives sensible semiclassical results but lacks an underlying oper…
Multi-dimensional quantum walks usually require large coin spaces. Here we show that the non-localized case of the spatial density probability of the two-dimensional Grover walk can be obtained using only a two-dimensional coin space and a quantum walk in alternate directions. We present a formal proof of this correspondence and analyze the behavior of the coin-position entanglement as well as the x-y spatial entanglement in our scheme with respect to the Grover one. We show that our experimentally simpler scheme allows to entangle the two orthogonal directions of the walk more efficiently.
Motivated by the recent work of Patel et al., this paper clarifies a connection between coined quantum walks and quantum cellular automata in a general setting. As a consequence, their result is naturally derived from the connection.
The control of quantum walk is made particularly transparent when the initial state is expressed in terms of the eigenstates of the coin operator. We show that the group-velocity density acquires a much simpler form when expressed in this basis. This allows us to obtain a much deeper understanding of the role of the initial coin state on the dynamics of quantum walks and control it. We find that the eigenvectors of the coin result in an extremal regime of a quantum walk. The approach is illustrated on two examples of quantum walks on a line.
We analyze the equivalence between discrete-time coined quantum walks and Szegedy's quantum walks. We characterize a class of flip-flop coined models with generalized Grover coin on a graph $Γ$ that can be directly converted into Szegedy's model on the subdivision graph of $Γ$ and we describe a method to convert one model into the other. This method improves previous results in literature that need to use the staggered model and the concept of line graph, which are avoided here.
Recently, a new model of quantum walk, utilizing recycled coins, was introduced; however little is yet known about its properties. In this paper, we study its behavior on the cycle graph. In particular, we will consider its time averaged distribution and how it is affected by the walk's "memory parameter" - a real parameter, between zero and eight, which affects the walk's coin flip operator. Despite an infinite number of different parameters, our analysis provides evidence that only a few produce non-uniform behavior. Our analysis also shows that the initial state, and cycle size modulo four …
Quantum random walks have been much studied recently, largely due to their highly nonclassical behavior. In this paper, we study one possible route to classical behavior for the discrete quantum random walk on the line: the use of multiple quantum ``coins'' in order to diminish the effects of interference between paths. We find solutions to this system in terms of the single coin random walk, and compare the asymptotic limit of these solutions to numerical simulations. We find exact analytical expressions for the time-dependence of the first two moments, and show that in the long time limit th…
This paper examines the stability of the quantum random walk search algorithm, when the walk coin is constructed by generalized Householder reflection and additional phase shift, against inaccuracies in the phases used to construct the coin. The optimization of the algorithm is done by numerical methods - Monte Carlo, neural networks, and supervised machine learning. The results of numerical simulations show that, with such a construction of the Householder reflection, the algorithm is more stable to inaccuracies in the specific values of these phases, as long as it is possible to control the …
In this study we show a way of achieving the reverse evolution of n-dimensional quantum walks by introducing interventions on the coin degree of freedom during the forward progression of the coin-walker system. Only a single intervention is required to reverse a quantum walker on a line to its initial positon and the number of interventions increases with the dimensionality of the walk. We present an analytical treatment to prove these results. This reversion scheme can be used to generate periodic bounded quantum walks and to control the locations where particle can be found with highest prob…
We report the position-inhomogeneous quantum walk (IQW) can be utilized to produce the maximal high dimensional entanglement while maintaining the quadratic speedup spread of the wave-function. Our calculations show that the maximal coin-walker entanglement can be generated in any odd steps or asymptotically in even steps, and the nearly maximal entanglement can be obtained in even steps after $2$. We implement the IQW by a stable resource-saving time-bin optical network, in which a polarization Sagnac loop is employed to realize the precisely tunable phase shift. Our approach opens up an effi…
A simple coined quantum walk in one dimension can be characterized by a $SU(2)$ operator with three parameters which represents the coin toss. However, different such coin toss operators lead to equivalent dynamics of the quantum walker. In this manuscript we present the unitary equivalence classes of quantum walks and show that all the nonequivalent quantum walks can be distinguished by a single parameter. Moreover, we argue that the electric quantum walks are equivalent to quantum walks with time dependent coin toss operator.
We show that the standard quantum-walk quantum-to-classical transition, characterized by ballistic-to-diffusive spreading of the walker's position, can be controlled by externally modulating the coin state. We illustrate by showing an oscillation between classical diffusive and quantum ballistic spreading using numerical and asymptotically exact closed-form solutions, and we prove that the walker is in a controllable incoherent mixture of classical and quantum walks with a reversible quantum-to-classical transition.
We calculated reduced density characteristic matrix (RDCM) for quantum walk on cycles (QWC) to study asymptotic properties of the most general form of quantum walk on cycles with general $U(2)$ coin operator. As an example, entanglement temperature for general initial state has been calculated and compared to previous results. Also, we have modified RDCM to derive analytical expression for general form of limiting distribution (LD).
Classical random walks on finite graphs have an underrated property: a walk from any vertex can reach every other vertex in finite time, provided they are connected. Discrete-time quantum walks on finite connected graphs however, can have infinite hitting times. This phenomenon is related to graph symmetry, as previously characterized by the group of direction-preserving graph automorphisms that trivially affect the coin Hilbert space. If a graph is symmetric enough (in a particular sense) then the associated quantum walk unitary will contain eigenvectors that do not overlap a set of target ve…
The Pólya number characterizes the recurrence of a random walk. We apply the generalization of this concept to quantum walks [M. Štefaňák, I. Jex and T. Kiss, Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{100}, 020501 (2008)] which is based on a specific measurement scheme. The Pólya number of a quantum walk depends in general on the choice of the coin and the initial coin state, in contrast to classical random walks where the lattice dimension uniquely determines it. We analyze several examples to depict the variety of possible recurrence properties. First, we show that for the class of quantum walks driven by in…
We study maximal coin-position entanglement generation via a discrete-time quantum walk, in which the coin operation is randomly selected from one of two coin operators set at each step. We solve maximal entanglement generation as an optimization problem with quantum process fidelity as the cost function. Then we determine the maximal entanglement that can be rigorously generated for any step beyond the second regardless of initial condition with appropriate coin sequences. The simplest coin sequence comprising Hadamard and identity operations is equivalent to the generalized elephant quantum …
We address the performance of a coin-biased quantum walk as a generator for non-classical position states of the walker. We exploit a phenomenon of coherent localisation in the position space --- resulting from the choice of small values of the coin parameter and assisted by post-selection --- to engineer large-size coherent superpositions of distinguishable position states of the walker. The protocol that we design appears to be remarkably robust against both the actual value taken by the coin parameter and strong dephasing-like noise acting on the spatial degree of freedom. We finally illust…
We examine the physical implementation of a discrete time quantum walk with a four-dimensional coin. Our quantum walker is a photon moving repeatedly through a time delay loop, with time being our position space. The quantum coin is implemented using the internal states of the photon: the polarization and two of the orbital angular momentum states. We demonstrate how to implement this physically and what components would be needed. We then illustrate some of the results that could be obtained by performing the experiment.
Classical randomized algorithms use a coin toss instruction to explore different evolutionary branches of a problem. Quantum algorithms, on the other hand, can explore multiple evolutionary branches by mere superposition of states. Discrete quantum random walks, studied in the literature, have nonetheless used both superposition and a quantum coin toss instruction. This is not necessary, and a discrete quantum random walk without a quantum coin toss instruction is defined and analyzed here. Our construction eliminates quantum entanglement from the algorithm, and the results match those obtaine…
