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arXiv:2301.01473

State Transfer in Complex Quantum Walks

Antonio Acuaviva, Ada Chan, Eldridge, Summer, Chris D. Godsil, Matthew How-Chun-Lun, Christino Tamon, Wright, Emily, Zhang, Xiaohong

Published Jan 4, 2023• 0 citations
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Abstract

Given a graph with Hermitian adjacency matrix $H$, perfect state transfer occurs from vertex $a$ to vertex $b$ if the $(b,a)$-entry of the unitary matrix $\exp(-iHt)$ has unit magnitude for some time $t$. This phenomenon is relevant for information transmission in quantum spin networks and is known to be monogamous under real symmetric matrices. We prove the following results: 1. For oriented graphs (whose nonzero weights are $\pm i$), the oriented $3$-cycle and the oriented edge are the only graphs where perfect state transfer occurs between every pair of vertices. This settles a conjecture of Cameron et al. On the other hand, we construct an infinite family of oriented graphs with perfect state transfer between any pair of vertices on a subset of size four. 2. There are infinite families of Hermitian graphs with one-way perfect state transfer, where perfect state transfer occurs without periodicity. In contrast, perfect state transfer implies periodicity whenever the adjacency matrix has algebraic entries (as shown by Godsil). 3. There are infinite families with non-monogamous pretty good state transfer in rooted graph products. In particular, we generalize known results on double stars (due to Fan and Godsil) and on paths with loops (due to Kempton, Lippner and Yau). The latter extends the experimental observation of quantum transport (made by Zimborás et al.) and shows non-monogamous pretty good state transfer can occur amongst distant vertices.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2301.01473

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Quantum computing is believed to provide many advantages over traditional computing, particularly considering the speed at which computations can be performed. One of the challenges that needs to be resolved in order to construct a quantum computer is the transmission of information from one part of the computer to another. Quantum walks, the quantum analogues of classical random walks, provide one potential method for resolving this challenge. \n \nIn this thesis, we use techniques from algebraic graph theory and number theory to analyze the mathematical model for continuous time quantum walks on graphs. For the continuous time quantum walk model, we define a transition operator, which is a function of a Hamiltonian. We focus on the cases where the adjacency matrix or the Laplacian of a graph act as the Hamiltionian. We mainly consider quantum walks on paths as a model for spin chains, which are the underlying basis of a quantum communication protocol. \n \nFor communication to be efficient, we desire states to be transferred with high fidelity, a measure of the amount of similarity between the transmitted state and the received state. At the maximum fidelity of 1, we say we have achieved perfect state transfer. Examples of perfect state transfer are relatively rare, so the concept of pretty good state transfer was introduced as a natural relaxation, which exists if fidelities arbitrarily close to 1 are obtained. \n \nOur first main result is to characterize pretty good state transfer on paths. Previously, pretty good state transfer on paths was considered mainly for the end vertices, though results for both models indicated that if there was pretty good state transfer between the end vertices, then there was pretty good state transfer between internal vertices equidistant from each end. We complete the characterization by demonstrating, for the adjacency matrix model, a family of paths where pretty good state transfer exists between internal vertices but not between end vertices, and verifying that no other example exists. For the Laplacian model, we show that there are no paths with pretty good state transfer between internal vertices but not between the end vertices. \n \nOur second main result considers initial states involving multiple vertices. Under the adjacency matrix model, we provide necessary and sufficient conditions for pretty good state transfer in a particular family of paths in terms of the eigenvalue support of the initial state. We also discuss recent results on fractional revival, which is another form of multiple qubit state transfer.

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Given a graph with Hermitian adjacency matrix HHH, perfect state transfer occurs from vertex aaa to vertex bbb if the (b,a)(b,a)(b,a)-entry of the unitary matrix exp⁡(−iHt)\exp(-iHt)exp(−iHt) has unit magnitude for some time ttt. This phenomenon is relevant for information transmission in quantum spin networks and is known to be monogamous under real symmetric matrices. We prove the following results: 1. For oriented graphs (whose nonzero weights are ±i\pm i±i), the oriented 333-cycle and the oriented edge are the only graphs where perfect state transfer occurs between every pair of vertices. This settles a conjecture of Cameron et al. On the other hand, we construct an infinite family of oriented graphs with perfect state transfer between any pair of vertices on a subset of size four. 2. There are infinite families of Hermitian graphs with one-way perfect state transfer, where perfect state transfer occurs without periodicity. In contrast, perfect state transfer implies periodicity whenever the adjacency matrix has algebraic entries (as shown by Godsil). 3. There are infinite families with non-monogamous pretty good state transfer in rooted graph products. In particular, we generalize known results on double stars (due to Fan and Godsil) and on paths with loops (due to Kempton, Lippner and Yau). The latter extends the experimental observation of quantum transport (made by Zimborás et al.) and shows non-monogamous pretty good state transfer can occur amongst distant vertices.
A continuous-time quantum walk on a graph is a matrix-valued function exp⁡(−iAt)\exp(-\mathtt{i} At)exp(−iAt) over the reals, where AAA is the adjacency matrix of the graph. Such a quantum walk has universal perfect state transfer if for all vertices u,vu,vu,v, there is a time where the (v,u)(v,u)(v,u) entry of the matrix exponential has unit magnitude. We prove new characterizations of graphs with universal perfect state transfer. This extends results of Cameron et al. (Linear Algebra and Its Applications, 455:115-142, 2014). Also, we construct non-circulant families of graphs with universal perfect state transfer. All prior known constructions were circulants. Moreover, we prove that if a circulant, whose order is prime, prime squared, or a power of two, has universal perfect state transfer then its underlying graph must be complete. This is nearly tight since there are universal perfect state transfer circulants with non-prime-power order where some edges are missing.
The continuous-time quantum walk on an oriented circulant graph is determined by the Fourier eigenvalues of its Hermitian adjacency matrix. We classify perfect state transfer (PST) between distinct vertices in every nonempty oriented circulant graph. We show that each such graph is described by an odd primitive quadratic Dirichlet character of conductor ΔΔΔ, a set of gcd-classes, and a choice between the two orientations of each selected class. For a graph of order nnn, we derive an explicit formula for every Fourier eigenvalue without assuming that n/Δn/Δn/Δ is coprime to ΔΔΔ. We prove that PST occurs only for Δ∈{3,4,8}Δ\in\{3,4,8\}Δ∈{3,4,8} and give necessary and sufficient conditions on the connection set for each conductor. Equivalently, the square-free radicands of oriented circulant graphs with PST are exactly 111, 222, and 333. More generally, when λj=Dηjλ_j=\sqrt{D}η_jλj​=D​ηj​ with ηj∈Zη_j\in\mathbb{Z}ηj​∈Z, congruences satisfied by the integers ηjη_jηj​ determine all PST pairs and times, the minimum period, and the largest vertex sets supporting multiple state transfer (MST). In this class, pretty good state transfer is equivalent to PST. We also determine the connected orders and enumerate the resulting graphs.
Quantum spin systems carry information in the form of quantum states, and the propagation of these quantum states is described by a quantum walk. In order to construct an operational quantum computer, the task of reliably transmitting quantum states from one part of a quantum computer to another must be accomplished. Quantum walks are known to be powerful tools in achieving this task. Pure states are quantum states represented by unit complex vectors. In this thesis, we use algebraic and combinatorial techniques to develop the theory of perfect state transfer on pure states in quantum walks, with emphasis on the adjacency and Laplacian matrices as Hamiltonians of a graph representing a spin network. We prove basic results about eigenvalue supports, periodicity, and strong cospectrality on pure states. We investigate a special type of strong cospectrality called m-strong cospectrality, and show that m-strongly cospectral pure states admit desirable quantum state transfer properties. Several characterisations of perfect state transfer are also given, one for general pure states, one for m-strongly pure states, and another one for real pure states. These characterisations give rise to algebraic and analytic properties of pure states admitting perfect state transfer. Moreover, we determine all complete graphs, complete bipartite graphs, cycles, and paths that admit perfect state transfer between m-strongly pure states. Constructions of infinite families of graphs admitting perfect state transfer are also given. We also characterise perfect state transfer between vertex states in joins and blowup graphs. We determine when the join operation preserves or induces perfect state transfer in the resulting graph. We also use blow-up graphs to construct new families of regular graphs with perfect state transfer. We use these two graph operations to demonstrate that graphs with perfect state transfer can be constructed from graphs that do not exhibit such a property. Finally, we investigate perfect state transfer on s-pair states – pure states that represent entanglement between two vertices. We establish combinatorial and spectral properties of s-pair states with perfect state transfer, and characterise its existence in complete graphs, complete bipartite graphs, paths and distance-regular graphs. Further, we construct infinite families of graphs with s-pair state transfer.
A continuous quantum walk on a graph XXX with adjacency matrix AAA is specified by the 1-parameter family of unitary matrices U(t)=exp⁡(itA)U(t)=\exp(itA)U(t)=exp(itA). These matrices act on the state space of a quantum system, the states of which we may represent by density matrices, positive semidefinite matrices with rows and columns indexed by V(X)V(X)V(X) and with trace 111. The square of the absolute values of the entries of a column of U(t)U(t)U(t) define a probability density on V(X)V(X)V(X), and it is precisely these densities that predict the outcomes of measurements. There are two special cases of physical interest: when the column density is supported on a vertex, and when it is uniform. In the first case we have perfect state transfer; in the second, uniform mixing. There are many results concerning state transfer and uniform mixing. In this paper we show that these results on perfect state transfer hold largely because at the time it occurs, the density matrix is real. We also show that the results on uniform mixing obtained so far hold because the entries of the density matrix are algebraic numbers. As a consequence of these we derive strong restrictions on the occurence of uniform mixing on bipartite graphs and on oriented graphs.
This thesis extends results about periodicity and perfect state transfer \nto oriented graphs. We prove that if a vertex a is periodic, then elements of \nthe eigenvalue support lie in Z √∆ for some squarefree negative integer \n∆. We find an infinite family of orientations of the complete graph that are \nperiodic. We find an example of a graph with both perfect state transfer \nand periodicity that is not periodic at an integer multiple of the period, and \nwe prove and use Gelfond-Schneider Theorem to show that every oriented \ngraph with perfect state transfer between two vertices will have both vertices \nperiodic. We find a complete characterization of when perfect state transfer \ncan occur in oriented graphs, and find a new example of a graph where one \nvertex has perfect state transfer to multiple other vertices.
Quantum computing is believed to provide many advantages over traditional computing, particularly considering the speed at which computations can be performed. One of the challenges that needs to be resolved in order to construct a quantum computer is the transmission of information from one part of the computer to another. Quantum walks, the quantum analogues of classical random walks, provide one potential method for resolving this challenge. \n \nIn this thesis, we use techniques from algebraic graph theory and number theory to analyze the mathematical model for continuous time quantum walks on graphs. For the continuous time quantum walk model, we define a transition operator, which is a function of a Hamiltonian. We focus on the cases where the adjacency matrix or the Laplacian of a graph act as the Hamiltionian. We mainly consider quantum walks on paths as a model for spin chains, which are the underlying basis of a quantum communication protocol. \n \nFor communication to be efficient, we desire states to be transferred with high fidelity, a measure of the amount of similarity between the transmitted state and the received state. At the maximum fidelity of 1, we say we have achieved perfect state transfer. Examples of perfect state transfer are relatively rare, so the concept of pretty good state transfer was introduced as a natural relaxation, which exists if fidelities arbitrarily close to 1 are obtained. \n \nOur first main result is to characterize pretty good state transfer on paths. Previously, pretty good state transfer on paths was considered mainly for the end vertices, though results for both models indicated that if there was pretty good state transfer between the end vertices, then there was pretty good state transfer between internal vertices equidistant from each end. We complete the characterization by demonstrating, for the adjacency matrix model, a family of paths where pretty good state transfer exists between internal vertices but not between end vertices, and verifying that no other example exists. For the Laplacian model, we show that there are no paths with pretty good state transfer between internal vertices but not between the end vertices. \n \nOur second main result considers initial states involving multiple vertices. Under the adjacency matrix model, we provide necessary and sufficient conditions for pretty good state transfer in a particular family of paths in terms of the eigenvalue support of the initial state. We also discuss recent results on fractional revival, which is another form of multiple qubit state transfer.