Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:1404.0074 · Electronic Proceedings in Theoretical Computer Science

Quantum Turing automata

Miklós Bartha

Published Mar 29, 2014• 5 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

A denotational semantics of quantum Turing machines having a quantum control is defined in the dagger compact closed category of finite dimensional Hilbert spaces. Using the Moore-Penrose generalized inverse, a new additive trace is introduced on the restriction of this category to isometries, which trace is carried over to directed quantum Turing machines as monoidal automata. The Joyal-Street-Verity Int construction is then used to extend this structure to a reversible bidirectional one.

DOI
10.4204/eptcs.143.2

Related papers

Universal Properties of Partial Quantum Maps

Pablo Andrés-Martí­nez, Chris Heunen, Robin Kaarsgaard

We provide a universal construction of the category of finite-dimensional C*-algebras and completely positive trace-nonincreasing maps from the rig category of finite-dimensional Hilbert spaces and unitaries. This construction, which can be applied to any dagger rig category, is described in three steps, each associated with their own universal property, and draws on results from dilation theory in finite dimension. In this way, we explicitly construct the category that captures hybrid quantum/classical computation with possible nontermination from the category of its reversible foundations. We discuss how this construction can be used in the design and semantics of quantum programming languages.

arXiv:2206.04814•Electronic Proceedings in Theoretical Computer Science•Nov 14, 2023•4 citations

On Traces in Categories of Contractions

Aaron David Fairbanks, Peter Selinger

Abstract Traced monoidal categories model processes that can feed their outputs back to their own inputs, abstracting iteration. The category of finite-dimensional Hilbert spaces with the direct sum tensor is not traced. But surprisingly, in 2014, Bartha showed that the monoidal subcategory of isometries is traced. The same holds for coisometries, unitary maps, and contractions. This suggests the possibility of feeding outputs of quantum processes back to their own inputs, analogous to iteration. In this paper, we show that Bartha’s result is not specifically tied to Hilbert spaces, but works in any dagger additive category with Moore–Penrose pseudoinverses (a natural dagger-categorical generalization of inverses).

arXiv:2502.14993•Electronic Proceedings in Theoretical Computer Science•Aug 19, 2025•0 citations

Quantum automata and quantum computing

Marats Golovkins

Quantum finite automata were introduced by C.Moore and J.P.Crutchfield in [MC 97] and by A.Kondacs and J.Watrous in [KW 97]. This notion is not a generalization of the deterministic finite automata, but rather a generalization of deterministic reversible (permutation) automata. In [AF 98] A.Ambainis and R.Freivalds raised the question what kind of probabilistic automata can be viewed as a special case of quantum finite automata. To answer that question and study relationship between quantum finite automata and probabilistic finite automata, we introduce a notion of probabilistic reversible automata (PRA, or doubly stochastic automata). We give the necessary condition for a language to be recognized by PRA. We find that there is a strong relationship between different possible models of PRA and corresponding models of quantum finite automata. In these thesis we regard quantum automata, probabilistic reversible and deterministic reversible automata as reversible automata. At least two non-equivalent definitions of language recognition are used for one-way reversible finite automata in various papers. Both of these definitions have their own advantages and disadvantages, summarized in our classification of one-way reversible automata. Further, we introduce a notion of quantum finite multitape automata and prove that there is a language recognized by a quantum finite multitape automaton but not by deterministic finite multitape automata. Additionally we discover unexpected probabilistic automata recognizing complicated languages. Finally, we revise the concept of quantum pushdown automata (QPA), first introduced by C.Moore and J.P.Cruthchfield in [MC 97]. We give the definition of QPA in a non-equivalent way, including unitarity criteria, by using the definition of quantum finite automata of [KW 97]. It is established that the unitary criteria of QPA are not equivalent to the corresponding unitary criteria of quantum Turing machines [BV 97]. We show that QPA can recognize every regular language. We also present some simple non-context-free languages recognized by QPA (hence not recognizable by deterministic and nondeterministic pushdown automata).

•Jan 1, 2002•0 citations

Dagger linear logic for categorical quantum mechanics

Robin Cockett, Cole Comfort, Priyaa Varshinee Srinivasan

Categorical quantum mechanics exploits the dagger compact closed structure of finite dimensional Hilbert spaces, and uses the graphical calculus of string diagrams to facilitate reasoning about finite dimensional processes. A significant portion of quantum physics, however, involves reasoning about infinite dimensional processes, and it is well-known that the category of all Hilbert spaces is not compact closed. Thus, a limitation of using dagger compact closed categories is that one cannot directly accommodate reasoning about infinite dimensional processes. A natural categorical generalization of compact closed categories, in which infinite dimensional spaces can be modelled, is *-autonomous categories and, more generally, linearly distributive categories. This article starts the development of this direction of generalizing categorical quantum mechanics. An important first step is to establish the behaviour of the dagger in these more general settings. Thus, these notes simultaneously develop the categorical semantics of multiplicative dagger linear logic. The notes end with the definition of a mixed unitary category. It is this structure which is subsequently used to extend the key features of categorical quantum mechanics.

arXiv:1809.00275•Logical Methods in Computer Science•Nov 16, 2021•7 citations

Classical and quantum computation with small space bounds (PhD thesis)

Abuzer Yakaryılmaz

In this thesis, we introduce a new quantum Turing machine (QTM) model that supports general quantum operators, together with its pushdown, counter, and finite automaton variants, and examine the computational power of classical and quantum machines using small space bounds in many different cases. The main contributions are summarized below. Firstly, we consider QTMs in the unbounded error setting: (i) in some cases of sublogarithmic space bounds, the class of languages recognized by QTMs is shown to be strictly larger than that of classical ones; (ii) in constant space bounds, the same result can still be obtained for restricted QTMs; (iii) the complete characterization of the class of languages recognized by realtime constant space nondeterministic QTMs is given. Secondly, we consider constant space-bounded QTMs in the bounded error setting: (i) we introduce a new type of quantum and probabilistic finite automata (QFAs and PFAs, respectively,) with a special two-way input head which is not allowed to be stationary or move to the left but has the capability to reset itself to its starting position; (ii) the computational power of this type of quantum machine is shown to be superior to that of the probabilistic machine; (iii) based on these models, two-way PFAs and two-way classical-head QFAs are shown to be more succinct than two-way nondeterministic finite automata and their one-way variants; (iv) we also introduce PFAs and QFAs with postselection with their bounded error language classes, and give many characterizations of them. Thirdly, the computational power of realtime QFAs augmented with a write-only memory is investigated by showing many simulation results for different kinds of counter automata. Finally, some lower bounds of realtime classical Turing machines in order to recognize a nonregular language are shown to be tight.

arXiv:1102.0378•Feb 2, 2011•5 citations

Quantum Turing Machines: Computations and Measurements

Stefano Guerrini, Simone Martini, Andrea Masini

Contrary to the classical case, the relation between quantum programming languages and quantum Turing Machines (QTM) has not been fully investigated. In particular, there are features of QTMs that have not been exploited, a notable example being the intrinsic infinite nature of any quantum computation. In this paper, we propose a definition of QTM, which extends and unifies the notions of Deutsch and Bernstein & Vazirani. In particular, we allow both arbitrary quantum input, and meaningful superpositions of computations, where some of them are “terminated” with an “output”, while others are not. For some infinite computations an “output” is obtained as a limit of finite portions of the computation. We propose a natural and robust observation protocol for our QTMs, which does not modify the probability of the possible outcomes of the machines. Finally, we use QTMs to define a class of quantum computable functions—any such function is a mapping from a general quantum state to a probability distribution of natural numbers. We expect that our class of functions, when restricted to classical input-output, will not be different from the set of the recursive functions.

arXiv:1703.07748•Applied Sciences•Aug 11, 2020•9 citations
A denotational semantics of quantum Turing machines having a quantum control is defined in the dagger compact closed category of finite dimensional Hilbert spaces. Using the Moore-Penrose generalized inverse, a new additive trace is introduced on the restriction of this category to isometries, which trace is carried over to directed quantum Turing machines as monoidal automata. The Joyal-Street-Verity Int construction is then used to extend this structure to a reversible bidirectional one.
We provide a universal construction of the category of finite-dimensional C*-algebras and completely positive trace-nonincreasing maps from the rig category of finite-dimensional Hilbert spaces and unitaries. This construction, which can be applied to any dagger rig category, is described in three steps, each associated with their own universal property, and draws on results from dilation theory in finite dimension. In this way, we explicitly construct the category that captures hybrid quantum/classical computation with possible nontermination from the category of its reversible foundations. We discuss how this construction can be used in the design and semantics of quantum programming languages.
Abstract Traced monoidal categories model processes that can feed their outputs back to their own inputs, abstracting iteration. The category of finite-dimensional Hilbert spaces with the direct sum tensor is not traced. But surprisingly, in 2014, Bartha showed that the monoidal subcategory of isometries is traced. The same holds for coisometries, unitary maps, and contractions. This suggests the possibility of feeding outputs of quantum processes back to their own inputs, analogous to iteration. In this paper, we show that Bartha’s result is not specifically tied to Hilbert spaces, but works in any dagger additive category with Moore–Penrose pseudoinverses (a natural dagger-categorical generalization of inverses).
Quantum finite automata were introduced by C.Moore and J.P.Crutchfield in [MC 97] and by A.Kondacs and J.Watrous in [KW 97]. This notion is not a generalization of the deterministic finite automata, but rather a generalization of deterministic reversible (permutation) automata. In [AF 98] A.Ambainis and R.Freivalds raised the question what kind of probabilistic automata can be viewed as a special case of quantum finite automata. To answer that question and study relationship between quantum finite automata and probabilistic finite automata, we introduce a notion of probabilistic reversible automata (PRA, or doubly stochastic automata). We give the necessary condition for a language to be recognized by PRA. We find that there is a strong relationship between different possible models of PRA and corresponding models of quantum finite automata. In these thesis we regard quantum automata, probabilistic reversible and deterministic reversible automata as reversible automata. At least two non-equivalent definitions of language recognition are used for one-way reversible finite automata in various papers. Both of these definitions have their own advantages and disadvantages, summarized in our classification of one-way reversible automata. Further, we introduce a notion of quantum finite multitape automata and prove that there is a language recognized by a quantum finite multitape automaton but not by deterministic finite multitape automata. Additionally we discover unexpected probabilistic automata recognizing complicated languages. Finally, we revise the concept of quantum pushdown automata (QPA), first introduced by C.Moore and J.P.Cruthchfield in [MC 97]. We give the definition of QPA in a non-equivalent way, including unitarity criteria, by using the definition of quantum finite automata of [KW 97]. It is established that the unitary criteria of QPA are not equivalent to the corresponding unitary criteria of quantum Turing machines [BV 97]. We show that QPA can recognize every regular language. We also present some simple non-context-free languages recognized by QPA (hence not recognizable by deterministic and nondeterministic pushdown automata).
Categorical quantum mechanics exploits the dagger compact closed structure of finite dimensional Hilbert spaces, and uses the graphical calculus of string diagrams to facilitate reasoning about finite dimensional processes. A significant portion of quantum physics, however, involves reasoning about infinite dimensional processes, and it is well-known that the category of all Hilbert spaces is not compact closed. Thus, a limitation of using dagger compact closed categories is that one cannot directly accommodate reasoning about infinite dimensional processes. A natural categorical generalization of compact closed categories, in which infinite dimensional spaces can be modelled, is *-autonomous categories and, more generally, linearly distributive categories. This article starts the development of this direction of generalizing categorical quantum mechanics. An important first step is to establish the behaviour of the dagger in these more general settings. Thus, these notes simultaneously develop the categorical semantics of multiplicative dagger linear logic. The notes end with the definition of a mixed unitary category. It is this structure which is subsequently used to extend the key features of categorical quantum mechanics.
In this thesis, we introduce a new quantum Turing machine (QTM) model that supports general quantum operators, together with its pushdown, counter, and finite automaton variants, and examine the computational power of classical and quantum machines using small space bounds in many different cases. The main contributions are summarized below. Firstly, we consider QTMs in the unbounded error setting: (i) in some cases of sublogarithmic space bounds, the class of languages recognized by QTMs is shown to be strictly larger than that of classical ones; (ii) in constant space bounds, the same result can still be obtained for restricted QTMs; (iii) the complete characterization of the class of languages recognized by realtime constant space nondeterministic QTMs is given. Secondly, we consider constant space-bounded QTMs in the bounded error setting: (i) we introduce a new type of quantum and probabilistic finite automata (QFAs and PFAs, respectively,) with a special two-way input head which is not allowed to be stationary or move to the left but has the capability to reset itself to its starting position; (ii) the computational power of this type of quantum machine is shown to be superior to that of the probabilistic machine; (iii) based on these models, two-way PFAs and two-way classical-head QFAs are shown to be more succinct than two-way nondeterministic finite automata and their one-way variants; (iv) we also introduce PFAs and QFAs with postselection with their bounded error language classes, and give many characterizations of them. Thirdly, the computational power of realtime QFAs augmented with a write-only memory is investigated by showing many simulation results for different kinds of counter automata. Finally, some lower bounds of realtime classical Turing machines in order to recognize a nonregular language are shown to be tight.
Contrary to the classical case, the relation between quantum programming languages and quantum Turing Machines (QTM) has not been fully investigated. In particular, there are features of QTMs that have not been exploited, a notable example being the intrinsic infinite nature of any quantum computation. In this paper, we propose a definition of QTM, which extends and unifies the notions of Deutsch and Bernstein & Vazirani. In particular, we allow both arbitrary quantum input, and meaningful superpositions of computations, where some of them are “terminated” with an “output”, while others are not. For some infinite computations an “output” is obtained as a limit of finite portions of the computation. We propose a natural and robust observation protocol for our QTMs, which does not modify the probability of the possible outcomes of the machines. Finally, we use QTMs to define a class of quantum computable functions—any such function is a mapping from a general quantum state to a probability distribution of natural numbers. We expect that our class of functions, when restricted to classical input-output, will not be different from the set of the recursive functions.