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.
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.
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.
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.
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. Then, 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 (Tulsi A.: Phys. Rev. A 78 :012310 2008 ) for the 2D grid. Extending his result, we show that we can find a unique marked element with constant probability and with the same complexity as detection for a large class of quantum walks—the quantum analogue of state-transitive reversible ergodic Markov chains. 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.
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.
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. Then, 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 (Tulsi A.: Phys. Rev. A 78:012310 2008) for the 2D grid. Extending his result, we show that we can find a unique marked element with constant probability and with the same complexity as detection for a large class of quantum walks—the quantum analogue of state-transitive reversible ergodic Markov chains. 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.