A natural scheme is established for the approximation of quantum Lévy processes on locally compact quantum groups by quantum random walks. We work in the somewhat broader context of discrete approximations of completely positive quantum stochastic convolution cocycles on C *-bialgebras.
Every Markov-regular quantum Levy process on a multiplier C*-bialgebra is shown to be equivalent to one governed by a quantum stochastic differential equation, and the generating functionals of norm-continuous convolution semigroups on a multiplier C*-bialgebra are then completely characterised. These results are achieved by extending the theory of quantum Levy processes on a compact quantum group, and more generally quantum stochastic convolution cocycles on a C*-bialgebra, to locally compact quantum groups and multiplier C*-bialgebras. Strict extension results obtained by Kustermans, together with automatic strictness properties developed here, are exploited to obtain existence and uniqueness for coalgebraic quantum stochastic differential equations in this setting. Then, working in the universal enveloping von Neumann bialgebra, we characterise the stochastic generators of Markov-regular, *-homomorphic (respectively completely positive and contractive), quantum stochastic convolution cocycles.
A concept of quantum stochastic convolution cocycle is introduced and studied in two different contexts -- purely algebraic and operator space theoretic. A quantum stochastic convolution cocycle is a quantum stochastic process on a coalgebra satisfying the convolution cocycle relation and the initial condition given by the counit. The notion generalises that of quantum Levy process, which in turn is a noncommutative probability counterpart of classical Levy process on a group. Convolution cocycles arise as solutions of quantum stochastic differential equations. In turn every sufficiently regular cocycle satisfies an equation of that type. This is proved along with the corresponding existence and uniqueness of solutions for coalgebraic quantum stochastic differential equations. The stochastic generators of unital *-homomorphic cocycles are characterised in terms of structure maps on a *-bialgebra. This yields a simple proof of the Schurmann Reconstruction Theorem for a quantum Levy process; it also yields a topological version for a quantum Levy process on a C*-bialgebra. Precise characterisation of the stochastic generators of completely positive and contractive quantum stochastic convolution cocycles in the C*-algebraic context is given, leading to some dilation results. A few examples are presented and some interpretations offered for quantum stochastic convolution cocycles and their stochastic generators on different types of *-bialgebra.
We give a simple and direct treatment of the convergence of quantum random walks to quantum stochastic operator cocycles, using the semigroup method. The pointwise product of two such quantum random walks is shown to converge to the quantum stochastic Trotter product of the respective limit cocycles. Since such Trotter products themselves reduce to pointwise products when the cocycles inhabit commuting subspaces of the system algebra, this yields an elementary approach to the quantum random walk approximation of the 'tensorisation' of cocycles with common noise dimension space. The repeated quantum interactions model is shown to fit nicely into the convergence scheme described.
We summarise recent results concerning quantum stochastic convolution cocycles in two contexts—purely algebraic and C∗-algebraic. In each case the class of cocycles arising as the solution of a quantum stochastic differential equation is charact