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arXiv:0810.1556 · Physical Review A

Generic quantum walk using a coin-embedded shift operator

C. M. Chandrashekar

Published Nov 5, 2008• 10 citations
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Abstract

The study of quantum walk processes has been widely divided into two standard variants, the discrete-time quantum walk (DTQW) and the continuous-time quantum walk (CTQW). The connection between the two variants has been established by considering the limiting value of the coin operation parameter in the DTQW, and the coin degree of freedom was shown to be unnecessary [F. W. Strauch, Phys. Rev. A 74, 030301(R) (2006)]. But the coin degree of freedom is an additional resource which can be exploited to control the dynamics of the QW process. In this paper we present a generic quantum walk model using a quantum coin-embedded unitary shift operation ${U}_{C}$. The standard version of the DTQW and the CTQW can be conveniently retrieved from this generic model, retaining the features of the coin degree of freedom in both variants.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.78.052309

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The study of quantum walk processes has been widely divided into two standard variants, the discrete-time quantum walk (DTQW) and the continuous-time quantum walk (CTQW). The connection between the two variants has been established by considering the limiting value of the coin operation parameter in the DTQW, and the coin degree of freedom was shown to be unnecessary [F. W. Strauch, Phys. Rev. A 74, 030301(R) (2006)]. But the coin degree of freedom is an additional resource which can be exploited to control the dynamics of the QW process. In this paper we present a generic quantum walk model using a quantum coin-embedded unitary shift operation UC{U}_{C}UC​. The standard version of the DTQW and the CTQW can be conveniently retrieved from this generic model, retaining the features of the coin degree of freedom in both variants.
We show that a quantum-state transfer, previously studied as a continuous-time process in networks of interacting spins, can be achieved within the model of discrete-time quantum walks with a position-dependent coin. We argue that, due to additional degrees of freedom, discrete-time quantum walks allow one to observe effects which cannot be observed in the corresponding continuous-time case. First, we study a discrete-time version of the engineered coupling protocol due to Christandl et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 187902 (2004)] and then we discuss the general idea of conversion between continuous-time quantum walks and discrete-time quantum walks.
Quantum walks can be defined in two quite distinct ways: discrete-time and continuous-time quantum walks (DTQWs and CTQWs). For classical random walks, there is a natural sense in which continuous-time walks are a limit of discrete-time walks. Quantum mechanically, in the discrete-time case, an additional ``coin space'' must be appended for the walk to have nontrivial time evolution. Continuous-time quantum walks, however, have no such constraints. This means that there is no completely straightforward way to treat a CTQW as a limit of a DTQW, as can be done in the classical case. Various approaches to this problem have been taken in the past. We give a construction for walks on ddd-regular, ddd-colorable graphs when the coin flip operator is Hermitian: from a standard DTQW we construct a family of discrete-time walks with a well-defined continuous-time limit on a related graph. One can think of this limit as a ``coined'' continuous-time walk. We show that these CTQWs share some properties with coined DTQWs. In particular, we look at a spatial search by a DTQW over the two-dimensional (2D) torus (a grid with periodic boundary conditions) of size $\sqrt{N}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}\sqrt{N}$, where it was shown that a coined DTQW can search in time O(NlogN)O(\sqrt{N}logN)O(N​logN), but a standard CTQW takes $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}(N)$ time to search for a marked element. The continuous limit of the DTQW search over the 2D torus exhibits the O(NlogN)O(\sqrt{N}logN)O(N​logN) scaling, like the coined walk it is derived from. We also look at the effects of graph symmetry on the limiting walk, and show that the properties are similar to those of the DTQW as shown in Krovi and Brun, Phys. Rev. A 75, 062332 (2007).
In most widely discussed discrete time quantum walk model, after every unitary shift operator, the particle evolves into the superposition of position space and settles down in one of its basis states, loosing entanglement in the coin space in the new position. The Hadamard operation is applied to let the particle to evolve into the superposition in the coin space and the walk is iterated. We present a model with a additional degree of freedom for the unitary shift operator U′U^{\prime}U′. The unitary operator with additional degree of freedom will evolve the quantum particle into superposition of position space retaining the entanglement in coin space. This eliminates the need for quantum coin toss (Hadamard operation) after every unitary displacement operation as used in most widely studied version of the discrete time quantum walk model. This construction is easily extended to a multiple particle quantum walk and in this article we extend it for a pair of particles in pure state entangled in coin degree of freedom by simultaneously subjecting it to a pair of unitary displacement operators which were constructed for single particle. We point out that unlike for single particle quantum walk, upon measurement of its position after NNN steps, the entangled particles are found together with 1/2 probability and at different positions with 1/2 probability. This can act as an advantage in applications of the quantum walk. A special case is also treated using a complex physical system such as, inter species two-particle entangled Bose-Einstein condensate, as an example.
The evolution of a walker in standard "Discrete-time Quantum Walk (DTQW)" is determined by coin and shift unitary operators. The conditional shift operator shifts the position of the walker to right or left by unit step size while the direction of motion is specified by the coin operator. This scenario can be generalized by choosing the step size randomly at each step in some specific interval. For example, the value of the roll of a dice can be used to specify the step size after throwing the coin. Let us call such a quantum walk "Discrete-time Random Step Quantum Walk (DTRSQW)". A completely random probability distribution is obtained whenever the walker follows the DTRSQW. We have also analyzed two more types of quantum walks, the "Discrete-time Un-biased Quantum Walk (DTUBQW)" and the "Discrete-time Biased Quantum Walk (DTBQW)". In the first type, the step size is kept different than unit size but the same for left and right shifts, whereas in the second type left and right shifts can also be different. The probability distribution in DTUBQW is found to follow a certain rule. The standard deviation (σσσ) of DTRSQW is higher than DTQW and hence DTRSQW spreads faster. The σσσ of DTUBQW shows sawtooth behavior with faster spread than DTQW for some specific values of rotation angles and steps.
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 operators from the coined model. In one particular case, the connection is very natural, and the continuous-time quantum walk that simulates the coined quantum walk is driven by the graph Laplacian on the dynamically changing expanded graph.
The discrete time quantum walk (DTQW) is a universal quantum computational model. Significant relationships between discrete and corresponding continuous quantum systems have been studied since the work of Pauli and Feynman. This work continues the study of relationships between discrete quantum models and their ostensive continuum counterparts by developing a formal transition between discrete and continuous quantum systems through a formal framework for continuum limits of the DTQW. Under this framework, we prove two constructive theorems concerning which internal discrete transitions ("coins") admit nontrivial continuum limits. We additionally prove that the continuous space limit of the continuous time limit of the DTQW can only yield massless states which obey the Dirac equation. Finally, we demonstrate that the continuous time limit of the DTQW can be identified with the canonical continuous time quantum walk (CTQW) when the coin is allowed to transition through the continuous limit process.