Several inequalities are proved for the mixing time of discrete-time quantum walks on finite graphs. The mixing time is defined differently than in Aharonov et al (2002 Proc. 33rd STOC ( 2001 ) (New York: ACM) pp 50–9 arXiv:quant-ph/0012090v2) and it is found that for particular examples of walks on a cycle, a hypercube and a complete graph, quantum walks provide no speedup in mixing over the classical counterparts. In addition, non-unitary quantum walks (i.e. walks with decoherence) are considered and a criterion for their convergence to the unique stationary distribution is derived.
Several inequalities are proved for the mixing time of discrete-time quantum walks on finite graphs. The mixing time is defined differently than in Aharonov et al (2002 Proc. 33rd STOC ( 2001 ) (New York: ACM) pp 50–9 arXiv:quant-ph/0012090v2) and it is found that for particular examples of walks on a cycle, a hypercube and a complete graph, quantum walks provide no speedup in mixing over the classical counterparts. In addition, non-unitary quantum walks (i.e. walks with decoherence) are considered and a criterion for their convergence to the unique stationary distribution is derived.
We set the ground for a theory of quantum walks on graphs- the generalization of random walks on finite graphs to the quantum world. Such quantum walks do not converge to any stationary distribution, as they are unitary and reversible. However, by suitably relaxing the definition, we can obtain a measure of how fast the quantum walk spreads or how confined the quantum walk stays in a small neighborhood. We give definitions of mixing time, filling time, dispersion time. We show that in all these measures, the quantum walk on the cycle is almost quadratically faster then its classical correspondent. On the other hand, we give a lower bound on the possible speed up by quantum walks for general graphs, showing that quantum walks can be at most polynomially faster than their classical counterparts.
We set the ground for a theory of quantum walks on graphs-the generalization of random walks on finite graphs to the quantum world. Such quantum walks do not converge to any stationary distribution, as they are unitary and reversible. However, by suitably relaxing the definition, we can obtain a measure of how fast the quantum walk spreads or how confined the quantum walk stays in a small neighborhood. We give definitions of mixing time, filling time, dispersion time. We show that in all these measures, the quantum walk on the cycle is almost quadratically faster then its classical correspondent. On the other hand, we give a lower bound on the possible speed up by quantum walks for general graphs, showing that quantum walks can be at most polynomially faster than their classical counterparts.
The mixing time of a discrete-time quantum walk on the hypercube is considered. The mean probability distribution of a Markov chain on a hypercube is known to mix to a uniform distribution in time O(nlogn). We show that the mean probability distribution of a discrete-time quantum walk on a hypercube mixes to a (generally nonuniform) distribution $\ensuremath{\pi}(x)$ in time O(n), and the stationary distribution is determined by the initial state of the walk. An explicit expression for $\ensuremath{\pi}(x)$ is derived for the particular case of a symmetric walk. These results are consistent with those obtained previously for a continuous-time quantum walk. The effect of decoherence due to randomly breaking links between connected sites in the hypercube is also considered. We find that the probability distribution mixes to the uniform distribution as expected. However, the mixing time has a minimum at a critical decoherence rate $p\ensuremath{\approx}0.1$. A similar effect was previously reported for a quantum walk on an N-cycle with decoherence from repeated measurements of position. A controlled amount of decoherence helps in obtaining---and preserving---a uniform distribution over the 2n sites of the hypercube in the shortest possible time.
Quantum mixing is a category of processes of reaching a stationary state when starting from a single initial vertex via quantum walks. In this thesis, we introduce the quantum mixing processes based on the framework of controlled quantum walks in [DH17a]. We first discuss why Szegedy's walks are not well-suited for the quantum mixing processes. We then show that the controlled quantum walk is a suitable framework for achieving a quadratic speed-up in the quantum mixing processes, because of its relationship with interpolated walks [KMOR16] and the phase estimation algorithm [CEMM98]. Accordingly, we give two definitions of quantum mixing times via controlled quantum walks: instant quantum mixing time and average quantum mixing time. We later prove the bounds of these two quantum mixing times on complete graphs. We also prove the upper bound of the average quantum mixing times on cycle graphs. To have clearer views on the bounds of instant and average quantum mixing times, we then discuss and present the simulations of quantum mixing processes, with four types of graphs (complete graphs, cycle graphs, 2-dimensional tori and dumbbell graphs) as examples. The simulations include the quantum mixing processes with the same ~θ (an important parameter in the controlled quantum walk operator) as in [DH17a], and the suitable range of ~θ that achieves the quadratic speed-up for different types of graphs. Inspired by the quantum search algorithm via controlled quantum walks in [DH17a], we adapt this algorithm to a new algorithm of quantum mixing, which generates samples from the stationary distribution of the Markov chain, with its runtime upper bounded by the quantum hitting time, which is quadratically faster than the classical hitting process.
Recently, it has been shown that one-dimensional quantum walks can mix more quickly than classical random walks, suggesting that quantum Monte Carlo algorithms can outperform their classical counterparts. We study two quantum walks on the n-dimensional hypercube, one in discrete time and one in continuous time. In both cases we show that the quantum walk mixes in (π/4)n steps, faster than the O(n log n) steps required by the classical walk. In the continuous-time case, the probability distribution is {\em exactly} uniform at this time. More importantly, these walks expose several subtleties in the definition of mixing time for quantum walks. Even though the continuous-time walk has an O(n) instantaneous mixing time at which it is precisely uniform, it never approaches the uniform distribution when the stopping time is chosen randomly as in [AharonovAKV2001]. Our analysis treats interference between terms of different phase more carefully than is necessary for the walk on the cycle; previous general bounds predict an exponential, rather than linear, mixing time for the hypercube.
Classical random walks on well-behaved graphs are rapidly mixing towards the uniform distribution. Moore and Russell showed that a continuous quantum walk on the hypercube is instantaneously uniform mixing. We show that the continuous-time quantum walks on other well-behaved graphs do not exhibit this uniform mixing. We prove that the only graphs amongst balanced complete multipartite graphs that have the instantaneous uniform mixing property are the complete graphs on two, three and four vertices, and the cycle graph on four vertices. Our proof exploits the circulant structure of these graphs. Furthermore, we conjecture that most complete cycles and Cayley graphs lack this mixing property as well.