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arXiv:2207.11429 · Journal of Statistical Mechanics Theory and Experiment

Resolving degeneracies in Google search via quantum stochastic walks

Colin Benjamin, Naini Dudhe

Published Jan 1, 2024• 5 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Abstract The internet is one of the most valuable technologies invented to date. Among them, Google is the most widely used search engine. The PageRank algorithm is the backbone of Google search, ranking web pages according to relevance and recency. We employ quantum stochastic walks (QSWs) with the hope of bettering the classical PageRank (CPR) algorithm, which is based on classical continuous time random walks. We implement QSW via two schemes: only incoherence and dephasing with incoherence. PageRank using QSW with only incoherence or QSW with dephasing and incoherence best resolves degeneracies that are unresolvable via CPR and with a convergence time comparable to that for CPR, which is generally the minimum. For some networks, the two QSW schemes obtain a convergence time lower than CPR and an almost degeneracy-free ranking compared to CPR.

DOI
10.1088/1742-5468/ad1384

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Abstract The internet is one of the most valuable technologies invented to date. Among them, Google is the most widely used search engine. The PageRank algorithm is the backbone of Google search, ranking web pages according to relevance and recency. We employ quantum stochastic walks (QSWs) with the hope of bettering the classical PageRank (CPR) algorithm, which is based on classical continuous time random walks. We implement QSW via two schemes: only incoherence and dephasing with incoherence. PageRank using QSW with only incoherence or QSW with dephasing and incoherence best resolves degeneracies that are unresolvable via CPR and with a convergence time comparable to that for CPR, which is generally the minimum. For some networks, the two QSW schemes obtain a convergence time lower than CPR and an almost degeneracy-free ranking compared to CPR.
The PageRank of a web page denotes popularity of a web page, higher the PageRank wider the popularity. The explosion of the number of web pages propel us to fasten the search time. The quantum version of Google PageRank has recently been investigated by various groups [1], [2] and shown to be quadratically faster in time than the classical PageRank algorithm. In this paper, we follow Quantum PageRank Class defined in [2]. We have modelled the web pages as quantum states and the search as a quantum stochastic walk. The evolution of the density matrix is computed using the Kossakowski-Lindblad master equation, which has reversible and irreversible evolution terms. The reversible term gives the coherent evolution, while the irreversible term adds noise to the system. The stochastic convergence of the diagonal elements of the density matrix gives the Quantum PageRank values, and to observe this it is essential to get consistent PageRank ordering, after the quantum fluctuations have been stabilized (insignificant). In our paper, we propose a method for faster convergence of the Quantum PageRanks by adding limited quantity of noise values during computation of the Kossakowski-Lindblad master equation, and the results obtained are an improvement over [2], where the quantum fluctuations do not stabilize and the ordering of PageRanks is not consistent. Addition of noise in limited amount during computation helps in limiting quantum fluctuations and in convergence of the Quantum PageRanks.
This article presents a new quantum PageRank algorithm on graphs using discrete-time open quantum walks. Google's PageRank is a widely used algorithm for ranking the web pages on the world wide web in classical computation. From a broader perspective, it is also a fundamental measure for quantifying the importance of vertices in a network. Similarly, the new quantum PageRank also serves to quantify the significance of a network's vertices. In this work, we extend the concept of discrete-time open quantum walk on arbitrary directed and undirected graphs by utilizing the Weyl operators as Kraus operators. This new model of quantum walk is useful for building up the quantum PageRank algorithm, discussed in this article. We compare the classical PageRank and the newly defined quantum PageRank for different types of complex networks, such as the scale-free network, Erdős-Rényi random network, Watts-Strogatz network, spatial network, Zachary Karate club network, GNC, GN, GNR networks, Barabási and Albert network, etc. In addition, we study the convergence of the quantum PageRank process and its dependency on the damping factor α. We observe that this quantum PageRank procedure is faster than many other proposals reported in the literature.
PageRank is an algorithm used by Google Search to rank web pages in their search engine results. An important step for quantum networks is to quantize the classical protocol as quantum mechanics provides computational resources that can be used to outperform classical algorithms. In this paper, we experimentally realize continuous-time quantum walks for directed graphs with non-Hermitian adjacency matrices by using linear optical circuits and single photons. We find that the node classical centrality in a directed graph is correlated with the maximum node probability resulting from a continuous-time quantum walk and then demonstrate PageRank. Our work opens up an avenue of applications of quantum information in real-life tasks.
The quantum SearchRank algorithm is a promising tool for a future quantum search engine based on PageRank quantization. However, this algorithm loses its functionality when the N / M ratio between the network size N and the number of marked nodes M is sufficiently large. We propose a modification of the algorithm, replacing the underlying Szegedy quantum walk with a semiclassical walk. To maintain the same time complexity as the quantum SearchRank algorithm we propose a simplification of the algorithm. This new algorithm is called randomized SearchRank, since it corresponds to a quantum walk over a randomized mixed state. The performance of the SearchRank algorithms is first analyzed on an example network and then statistically on a set of different networks of increasing size and different number of marked nodes. On the one hand, to test the search ability of the algorithms, it is computed how the probability of measuring the marked nodes decreases with N / M for the quantum SearchRank, but remarkably it remains at a high value around 0.9 for our semiclassical algorithms, solving the quantum SearchRank problem. The time complexity of the algorithms is also analyzed, obtaining a quadratic speedup with respect to the classical ones. On the other hand, the ranking functionality of the algorithms has been investigated, obtaining a good agreement with the classical PageRank distribution. Finally, the dependence of these algorithms on the intrinsic PageRank damping parameter has been clarified. Our results suggest that this parameter should be below a threshold so that the execution time does not increase drastically. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
The quantization of the PageRank algorithm is a promising tool for a future quantum internet. Here we present a modification of the quantum PageRank, introducing arbitrary phase rotations (APR) in the underlying Szegedy's quantum walk. We define three different APR schemes with only one phase as a degree of freedom. We have analyzed the behavior of these algorithms in a small generic graph, observing that a decrease of the phase reduces the standard deviation of the instantaneous PageRank, so the nodes of the network can be distinguished better. However, the algorithm takes more time to converge, so the phase cannot be decreased arbitrarily. With these results we choose a concrete value for the phase to later apply the algorithm to complex scale-free graphs. In these networks, the original quantum PageRank is able to break the degeneracy of the residual nodes and detect secondary hubs that the classical algorithm suppresses. Nevertheless, not all of the detected secondary hubs are real according to the PageRank's definition. Some APR schemes can overcome this problem, restoring the degeneration of the residual nodes and highlighting the truly secondary hubs of the networks. Finally, we have studied the stability of the new algorithms. The original quantum algorithm was known to be more stable than the classical. We have found that one of our algorithms, whose PageRank distribution resembles the classical one, has a stability similar to the original quantum algorithm.
We present a quantum algorithm for obtaining a quantum state that encodes the PageRank vector of the Google matrix through multistep quantum resonant transition (mQRT). In the algorithm, the PageRank vector is encoded in the ground state of a problem Hamiltonian associated with the Google matrix. By dividing the web graph corresponding to the Google matrix into a series of subgraphs with nested structure, we construct a sequence of Hamiltonians based on the subgraphs to form a Hamiltonian evolution path from a simple initial Hamiltonian to the problem Hamiltonian. The ground state of the problem Hamiltonian is obtained by going through ground states of the intermediate Hamiltonians via QRT step by step. This algorithm requires only one ancillary qubit, and the runtime of the algorithm is proportional to the number of steps. It provides a new way for efficiently obtaining the quantum state of the PageRank vector of large-scale networks.