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Chinese Optics Letters

Experimental observations of boundary conditions of continuous-time quantum walks

Xiaochuan Han, Lan‐Tian Feng, Yuxuan Li, Lanxuan Zhang, Junfeng Song, Yong-Sheng Zhang

Published Jan 1, 2019• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The continuous-time quantum walk (CTQW) is the quantum analogue of the continuous-time classical walk and is widely used in universal quantum computations. Here, taking the advantages of the waveguide arrays, we implement large-scale CTQWs on chips. We couple the single-photon source into the middle port of the waveguide arrays and measure the emergent photon number distributions by utilizing the fiber coupling platform. Subsequently, we simulate the photon number distributions of the waveguide arrays by considering the boundary conditions. The boundary conditions are quite necessary in solving the problems of quantum mazes.

DOI
10.3788/col201917.052701

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The continuous-time quantum walk (CTQW) is the quantum analogue of the continuous-time classical walk and is widely used in universal quantum computations. Here, taking the advantages of the waveguide arrays, we implement large-scale CTQWs on chips. We couple the single-photon source into the middle port of the waveguide arrays and measure the emergent photon number distributions by utilizing the fiber coupling platform. Subsequently, we simulate the photon number distributions of the waveguide arrays by considering the boundary conditions. The boundary conditions are quite necessary in solving the problems of quantum mazes.
Continuous-time quantum random walk is constructed when photons propagate passing the branches of the waveguide array. It is possible to make quantum simulator, based on the quantum walk in waveguides, on a commercial scale firstly, but there are still some problems such as input state, the structure and boundary of the waveguides that should be treated at present. A nearest-neighbor coupling model is used to deal with the question of coupled waveguides and an explicit analytical solution can be derived. Using the analytical solution, we analyze the effects of input state on particle number probability distribution function and the second-order coherence degree of the quantum walk process in periodic waveguides. The results show that the symmetry properties of the input state would influence the distribution of second-order coherence degree, but have little effect on the probability distribution function.
Quantum walks, in virtue of the coherent superposition and quantum interference, have exponential superiority over their classical counterpart in applications of quantum searching and quantum simulation. The quantum-enhanced power is highly related to the state space of quantum walks, which can be expanded by enlarging the photon number and/or the dimensions of the evolution network, but the former is considerably challenging due to probabilistic generation of single photons and multiplicative loss. We demonstrate a two-dimensional continuous-time quantum walk by using the external geometry of photonic waveguide arrays, rather than the inner degree of freedoms of photons. Using femtosecond laser direct writing, we construct a large-scale three-dimensional structure that forms a two-dimensional lattice with up to 49 × 49 nodes on a photonic chip. We demonstrate spatial two-dimensional quantum walks using heralded single photons and single photon-level imaging. We analyze the quantum transport properties via observing the ballistic evolution pattern and the variance profile, which agree well with simulation results. We further reveal the transient nature that is the unique feature for quantum walks of beyond one dimension. An architecture that allows a quantum walk to freely evolve in all directions and at a large scale, combining with defect and disorder control, may bring up powerful and versatile quantum walk machines for classically intractable problems.
Continuous-time quantum walks (CTQWs) on static graphs provide efficient methods for search and sampling as well as a model for universal quantum computation. We consider an extension of CTQWs to the case of dynamic graphs, in which an ordered sequence of graphs governs free evolution of the quantum walk. We then consider how perfect state transfer during the quantum walk can be used to design dynamic graphs that implement a universal set of quantum logic gates. We give explicit examples for a complete logical basis, and we validate implementations using numerical simulations for quantum teleportation and addition circuits. Finally, we discuss the potential for realizing CTQWs on dynamic graphs using actively controlled quantum optical waveguides.
Quantum walks of correlated particles offer the possibility of studying large-scale quantum interference; simulating biological, chemical, and physical systems; and providing a route to universal quantum computation. We have demonstrated quantum walks of two identical photons in an array of 21 continuously evanescently coupled waveguides in a SiO(x)N(y) chip. We observed quantum correlations, violating a classical limit by 76 standard deviations, and found that the correlations depended critically on the input state of the quantum walk. These results present a powerful approach to achieving quantum walks with correlated particles to encode information in an exponentially larger state space.
Photonic quantum walks (PQWs), realized in lattices of evanescently coupled waveguides, are a powerful platform for demonstrating quantum [1], topological [2] and localization phenomena [3]. The PQW dynamics are captured with a tight-binding Hamiltonian, whose parameters can be engineered with the geometry of the waveguide array. It has been proposed that the two-qubit controlled-NOT (CNOT) gate can be implemented by quantum interference of two-photons in a carefully engineered PQW [4]. Whereas photonic quantum logic gates typically rely on a network of beamsplitters [5], the PQW implements the quantum logic in a single step. While multi-photon experiments in PQWs have been demonstrated [1]–[3], where photon-photon bunching governs the dynamics, the controlled preparation of entangling logic gates is yet to be experimentally explored.
Multiphoton quantum walks in integrated optics comprise an attractive controlled quantum system, that can mimic less readily accessible quantum systems and exhibit behavior that cannot in general be accurately replicated by classical light without an exponential overhead in resources. The ability to observe the time evolution of such systems is important for characterizing multiparticle quantum dynamics---notably this includes the effects of boundary conditions for walks in spaces of finite size. Here we demonstrate the coherent evolution of quantum walks of two indistinguishable photons using planar arrays of 21 evanescently coupled waveguides fabricated in silicon oxynitride technology. We compare three time evolutions, that follow closely a model assuming unitary evolution, corresponding to three different lengths of the array---in each case we observe quantum interference features that violate classical predictions. The longest array includes reflecting boundary conditions.