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arXiv:1312.0123 · New Journal of Physics

Observation of quasiperiodic dynamics in a one-dimensional quantum walk of single photons in space

Peng Xue, Hao Qin, Bao Tang, Barry C. Sanders

Published May 6, 2014• 52 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We realize the quasi-periodic dynamics of a quantum walker over 2.5 quasi-periods by realizing the walker as a single photon passing through a quantum-walk optical-interferometer network. We introduce fully controllable polarization-independent phase shifters in each optical path to realize arbitrary site-dependent phase shifts, and employ large clear-aperture beam displacers, while maintaining high-visibility interference, to enable 10 quantum-walk steps to be reached. By varying the half-wave-plate setting, we control the quantum-coin bias thereby observing a transition from quasi-periodic dynamics to ballistic diffusion.

DOI
10.1088/1367-2630/16/5/053009

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We realize the quasi-periodic dynamics of a quantum walker over 2.5 quasi-periods by realizing the walker as a single photon passing through a quantum-walk optical-interferometer network. We introduce fully controllable polarization-independent phase shifters in each optical path to realize arbitrary site-dependent phase shifts, and employ large clear-aperture beam displacers, while maintaining high-visibility interference, to enable 10 quantum-walk steps to be reached. By varying the half-wave-plate setting, we control the quantum-coin bias thereby observing a transition from quasi-periodic dynamics to ballistic diffusion.
Optical interferometers comprising birefringent-crystal beam displacers, wave plates, and phase shifters serve as stable devices for simulating quantum information processes such as heralded coined quantum walks. Quantum walks are important for quantum algorithms, universal quantum computing circuits, quantum transport in complex systems, and demonstrating intriguing nonlinear dynamical quantum phenomena. We introduce fully controllable polarization-independent phase shifters in optical pathes in order to realize site-dependent phase defects. The effectiveness of our interferometer is demonstrated through realizing single-photon quantum-walk dynamics in one dimension. By applying site-dependent phase defects, the translational symmetry of an ideal standard quantum walk is broken resulting in localization effect in a quantum walk architecture. The walk is realized for different site-dependent phase defects and coin settings, indicating the strength of localization signature depends on the level of phase due to site-dependent phase defects and coin settings and opening the way for the implementation of a quantum-walk-based algorithm.
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. Each of the quantum-walk steps required to realize a revival comprises two sequential orthogonal coin-flip operators, with one coin having constant bias and the other coin having a time-dependent ramped coin bias, followed by a conditional translation of the walker.
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Quantum walks are more than tools for building quantum algorithms. They have been used effectively to model and simulate quantum dynamics in many complex physical processes. Particularly, a variant of discrete-time quantum walk known as split-step quantum walk is closely related to Dirac cellular automata and topological insulators, whose realizations rely on position-dependent control of evolution operators. Owing to the ease of manipulating multiple degrees of freedom of photons, we provide an optical setup of split-step operators which, in combination with position-dependent coin (PDC) operation, can accomplish a table-top setup of generalized split-step walks. Also, we propose an optical implementation for PDC operation that allows, for instance, realizing electric quantum walks, control localization dynamics, and emulate space-time curvature effects. In addition, we propose a setup to realize any t -step split-step quantum walk involving 2 J -plates, 2 variable waveplates, a half-waveplate, an optical switch, and an optical delay line.