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arXiv:0803.3446 · Physical Review A

Hitting time for the continuous quantum walk

Martin Varbanov, Hari Krovi, Todd A. Brun

Published Aug 15, 2008• 63 citations
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Abstract

We define the hitting (or absorbing) time for the case of continuous quantum walks by measuring the walk at random times, according to a Poisson process with measurement rate $\ensuremath{\lambda}$. From this definition we derive an explicit formula for the hitting time, and explore its dependence on the measurement rate. As the measurement rate goes to either 0 or infinity the hitting time diverges; the first divergence reflects the weakness of the measurement, while the second limit results from the quantum zeno effect. Continuous-time quantum walks, like discrete-time quantum walks but unlike classical random walks, can have infinite hitting times. We present several conditions for existence of infinite hitting times, and discuss the connection between infinite hitting times and graph symmetry.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.78.022324

Related papers

Quantum walks with infinite hitting times

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Hitting times are the average time it takes a walk to reach a given final vertex from a given starting vertex. The hitting time for a classical random walk on a connected graph will always be finite. We show that, by contrast, quantum walks can have infinite hitting times for some initial states. We seek criteria to determine if a given walk on a graph will have infinite hitting times, and find a sufficient condition, which for discrete time quantum walks is that the degeneracy of the evolution operator be greater than the degree of the graph. The set of initial states which give an infinite hitting time form a subspace. The phenomenon of infinite hitting times is in general a consequence of the symmetry of the graph and its automorphism group. Using the irreducible representations of the automorphism group, we derive conditions such that quantum walks defined on this graph must have infinite hitting times for some initial states. In the case of the discrete walk, if this condition is satisfied the walk will have infinite hitting times for any choice of a coin operator, and we give a class of graphs with infinite hitting times for any choice of coin. Hitting times are not very well defined for continuous time quantum walks, but we show that the idea of infinite hitting-time walks naturally extends to the continuous time case as well.

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Topics in quantum information -- Continuous quantum measurements and quantum walks

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The topics presented in this thesis have continuous quantum measurements and quantum walks at their core. The first topic being discussed centers around simulating a generalize measurement with a finite number of outcomes using a continuous measurement process with a continuous measurement history. We provide conditions under which it is possible to prove that such a process exists and that at long times it simulates faithfully the generalized measurement. We give the stochastic equations governing the feedback between the measurement history and the instantaneous weak measurements. The second topic examines a definition of hitting time for continuous-time quantum walks. A crucial component for such a definition is the use of weak measurements. Several methods using alternative but equivalent definitions of weak, continuous measurements are employed to derive a formula for the hitting time. The behavior of the thus defined hitting time is studied subsequently, in general and for specific graphs. The last topic explores continuous-time quantum walks on graphs with infinite tails. The equations for propagating and bound states are derived and the S-matrix is defined. Their properties, such as orthogonality of the propagating and bound states, unitarity of the S-matrix, are discussed. Formulas for the S-matrix under operations of cutting, adding or connecting tails are derived.

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Symmetry in quantum walks

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A discrete-time quantum walk on a graph is the repeated application of a unitary evolution operator to a Hilbert space corresponding to the graph. Hitting times for discrete quantum walks on graphs give an average time before the walk reaches an ending condition. We derive an expression for hitting time using superoperators, and numerically evaluate it for the walk on the hypercube for various coins and decoherence models. The hitting time for a classical random walk on a connected graph will always be finite. We show that, by contrast, quantum walks can have infinite hitting times for some initial states. We seek criteria to determine if a given walk on a graph will have infinite hitting times, and find a sufficient condition, which for discrete time quantum walks is that the degeneracy of the evolution operator be greater than the degree of the graph. The phenomenon of infinite hitting times is in general a consequence of the symmetry of the graph and its automorphism group. Symmetries of a graph, given by its automorphism group, can be inherited by the evolution operator. Using the irreducible representations of the automorphism group, we derive conditions such that quantum walks defined on this graph must have infinite hitting times for some initial states. Symmetry can cause the walk to also be confined to a subspace of the original Hilbert space for cartain initial states. We show that a quantum walk confined to the subspace corresponding to this symmetry group can be seen as a different quantum walk on a smaller quotient graph. We give an explicit construction of the quotient graph for any subgroup H of the automorphism group. The automorphisms of the quotient graph which are inherited from the original graph are the original automorphism group modulo the subgroup H used to construct it. We conjecture that the existence of a small quotient graph with finite hitting times is necessary for a walk to exhibit a quantum speed-up. Finally, we use symmetry and the theory of decoherence-free subspaces to determine when the subspace of the quotient graph is a decoherence-free subspace of the dynamics.

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Hitting time for quantum walks on the hypercube

Hari Krovi, Todd A. Brun

Hitting times for discrete quantum walks on graphs give an average time before the walk reaches an ending condition. To be analogous to the hitting time for a classical walk, the quantum hitting time must involve repeated measurements as well as unitary evolution. We derive an expression for hitting time using superoperators, and numerically evaluate it for the discrete walk on the hypercube. The values found are compared to other analogs of hitting time suggested in earlier work. The dependence of hitting times on the type of unitary ``coin'' is examined, and we give an example of an initial state and coin which gives an infinite hitting time for a quantum walk. Such infinite hitting times require destructive interference, and are not observed classically. Finally, we look at distortions of the hypercube, and observe that a loss of symmetry in the hypercube increases the hitting time. Symmetry seems to play an important role in both dramatic speed-ups and slow-downs of quantum walks.

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On the hitting times of quantum versus random walks

Frédéric Magniez, Ashwin Nayak, Peter C. Richter +1 more

The hitting time of a classical random walk (Markov chain) is the time required to detect the presence of -- or equivalently, to find -- a marked state. The hitting time of a quantum walk is subtler to define; in particular, it is unknown whether the detection and finding problems have the same time complexity. In this paper we define new Monte Carlo type classical and quantum hitting times, and we prove several relationships among these and the already existing Las Vegas type definitions. In particular, we show that for some marked state the two types of hitting time are of the same order in both the classical and the quantum case.Further, we prove that for any reversible ergodic Markov chain P, the quantum hitting time of the quantum analogue of P has the same order as the square root of the classical hitting time of P. We also investigate the (im)possibility of achieving a gap greater than quadratic using an alternative quantum walk. In doing so, we define a notion of reversibility for a broad class of quantum walks and show how to derive from any such quantum walk a classical analogue. For the special case of quantum walks built on reflections, we show that the hitting time of the classical analogue is exactly the square of the quantum walk.Finally, we present new quantum algorithms for the detection and finding problems. The complexities of both algorithms are related to the new, potentially smaller, quantum hitting times. The detection algorithm is based on phase estimation and is particularly simple. The finding algorithm combines a similar phase estimation based procedure with ideas of Tulsi from his recent theorem [19] for the 2D grid. Extending his result, we show that for any state-transitive Markov chain with unique marked state, the quantum hitting time is of the same order for both the detection and finding problems.

Symposium on Discrete Algorithms•Jan 4, 2009•19 citations
We define the hitting (or absorbing) time for the case of continuous quantum walks by measuring the walk at random times, according to a Poisson process with measurement rate \ensuremathλ\ensuremath{\lambda}\ensuremathλ. From this definition we derive an explicit formula for the hitting time, and explore its dependence on the measurement rate. As the measurement rate goes to either 0 or infinity the hitting time diverges; the first divergence reflects the weakness of the measurement, while the second limit results from the quantum zeno effect. Continuous-time quantum walks, like discrete-time quantum walks but unlike classical random walks, can have infinite hitting times. We present several conditions for existence of infinite hitting times, and discuss the connection between infinite hitting times and graph symmetry.
Hitting times are the average time it takes a walk to reach a given final vertex from a given starting vertex. The hitting time for a classical random walk on a connected graph will always be finite. We show that, by contrast, quantum walks can have infinite hitting times for some initial states. We seek criteria to determine if a given walk on a graph will have infinite hitting times, and find a sufficient condition, which for discrete time quantum walks is that the degeneracy of the evolution operator be greater than the degree of the graph. The set of initial states which give an infinite hitting time form a subspace. The phenomenon of infinite hitting times is in general a consequence of the symmetry of the graph and its automorphism group. Using the irreducible representations of the automorphism group, we derive conditions such that quantum walks defined on this graph must have infinite hitting times for some initial states. In the case of the discrete walk, if this condition is satisfied the walk will have infinite hitting times for any choice of a coin operator, and we give a class of graphs with infinite hitting times for any choice of coin. Hitting times are not very well defined for continuous time quantum walks, but we show that the idea of infinite hitting-time walks naturally extends to the continuous time case as well.
We define the hitting time for a model of continuous-time open quantum walks in terms of quantum jumps. Our starting point is a master equation in Lindblad form, which can be taken as the quantum analogue of the rate equation for a classical continuous-time Markov chain. The quantum jump method is well known in the quantum optics community and has also been applied to simulate open quantum walks in discrete time. This method however, is well-suited to continuous-time problems. It is shown here that a continuous-time hitting problem is amenable to analysis via quantum jumps: The hitting time can be defined as the time of the first jump. Using this fact, we derive the distribution of hitting times and explicit exressions for its statistical moments. Simple examples are considered to illustrate the final results. We then show that the hitting statistics obtained via quantum jumps is consistent with a previous definition for a measured walk in discrete time [Phys. Rev. A 73, 032341 (2006)] (when generalised to allow for non-unitary evolution and in the limit of small time steps). A caveat of the quantum-jump approach is that it relies on the final state (the state which we want to hit) to share only incoherent edges with other vertices in the graph. We propose a simple remedy to restore the applicability of quantum jumps when this is not the case and show that the hitting-time statistics will again converge to that obtained from the measured discrete walk in appropriate limits.
The topics presented in this thesis have continuous quantum measurements and quantum walks at their core. The first topic being discussed centers around simulating a generalize measurement with a finite number of outcomes using a continuous measurement process with a continuous measurement history. We provide conditions under which it is possible to prove that such a process exists and that at long times it simulates faithfully the generalized measurement. We give the stochastic equations governing the feedback between the measurement history and the instantaneous weak measurements. The second topic examines a definition of hitting time for continuous-time quantum walks. A crucial component for such a definition is the use of weak measurements. Several methods using alternative but equivalent definitions of weak, continuous measurements are employed to derive a formula for the hitting time. The behavior of the thus defined hitting time is studied subsequently, in general and for specific graphs. The last topic explores continuous-time quantum walks on graphs with infinite tails. The equations for propagating and bound states are derived and the S-matrix is defined. Their properties, such as orthogonality of the propagating and bound states, unitarity of the S-matrix, are discussed. Formulas for the S-matrix under operations of cutting, adding or connecting tails are derived.
A discrete-time quantum walk on a graph is the repeated application of a unitary evolution operator to a Hilbert space corresponding to the graph. Hitting times for discrete quantum walks on graphs give an average time before the walk reaches an ending condition. We derive an expression for hitting time using superoperators, and numerically evaluate it for the walk on the hypercube for various coins and decoherence models. The hitting time for a classical random walk on a connected graph will always be finite. We show that, by contrast, quantum walks can have infinite hitting times for some initial states. We seek criteria to determine if a given walk on a graph will have infinite hitting times, and find a sufficient condition, which for discrete time quantum walks is that the degeneracy of the evolution operator be greater than the degree of the graph. The phenomenon of infinite hitting times is in general a consequence of the symmetry of the graph and its automorphism group. Symmetries of a graph, given by its automorphism group, can be inherited by the evolution operator. Using the irreducible representations of the automorphism group, we derive conditions such that quantum walks defined on this graph must have infinite hitting times for some initial states. Symmetry can cause the walk to also be confined to a subspace of the original Hilbert space for cartain initial states. We show that a quantum walk confined to the subspace corresponding to this symmetry group can be seen as a different quantum walk on a smaller quotient graph. We give an explicit construction of the quotient graph for any subgroup H of the automorphism group. The automorphisms of the quotient graph which are inherited from the original graph are the original automorphism group modulo the subgroup H used to construct it. We conjecture that the existence of a small quotient graph with finite hitting times is necessary for a walk to exhibit a quantum speed-up. Finally, we use symmetry and the theory of decoherence-free subspaces to determine when the subspace of the quotient graph is a decoherence-free subspace of the dynamics.
Hitting times for discrete quantum walks on graphs give an average time before the walk reaches an ending condition. To be analogous to the hitting time for a classical walk, the quantum hitting time must involve repeated measurements as well as unitary evolution. We derive an expression for hitting time using superoperators, and numerically evaluate it for the discrete walk on the hypercube. The values found are compared to other analogs of hitting time suggested in earlier work. The dependence of hitting times on the type of unitary ``coin'' is examined, and we give an example of an initial state and coin which gives an infinite hitting time for a quantum walk. Such infinite hitting times require destructive interference, and are not observed classically. Finally, we look at distortions of the hypercube, and observe that a loss of symmetry in the hypercube increases the hitting time. Symmetry seems to play an important role in both dramatic speed-ups and slow-downs of quantum walks.
The hitting time of a classical random walk (Markov chain) is the time required to detect the presence of -- or equivalently, to find -- a marked state. The hitting time of a quantum walk is subtler to define; in particular, it is unknown whether the detection and finding problems have the same time complexity. In this paper we define new Monte Carlo type classical and quantum hitting times, and we prove several relationships among these and the already existing Las Vegas type definitions. In particular, we show that for some marked state the two types of hitting time are of the same order in both the classical and the quantum case.Further, we prove that for any reversible ergodic Markov chain P, the quantum hitting time of the quantum analogue of P has the same order as the square root of the classical hitting time of P. We also investigate the (im)possibility of achieving a gap greater than quadratic using an alternative quantum walk. In doing so, we define a notion of reversibility for a broad class of quantum walks and show how to derive from any such quantum walk a classical analogue. For the special case of quantum walks built on reflections, we show that the hitting time of the classical analogue is exactly the square of the quantum walk.Finally, we present new quantum algorithms for the detection and finding problems. The complexities of both algorithms are related to the new, potentially smaller, quantum hitting times. The detection algorithm is based on phase estimation and is particularly simple. The finding algorithm combines a similar phase estimation based procedure with ideas of Tulsi from his recent theorem [19] for the 2D grid. Extending his result, we show that for any state-transitive Markov chain with unique marked state, the quantum hitting time is of the same order for both the detection and finding problems.