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arXiv:quant-ph/0507267 · Physical Review A

Experimental implementation of a discrete-time quantum random walk on an NMR quantum-information processor

Colm A. Ryan, Martin Laforest, Jean-Christian Boileau, Raymond Laflamme

Published Dec 9, 2005• 279 citations
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Abstract

We present an experimental implementation of the coined discrete-time quantum walk on a square using a three-qubit liquid-state nuclear-magnetic-resonance (NMR) quantum-information processor (QIP). Contrary to its classical counterpart, we observe complete interference after certain steps and a periodicity in the evolution. Complete state tomography has been performed for each of the eight steps, making a full period. The results have extremely high fidelity with the expected states and show clearly the effects of quantum interference in the walk. We also show and discuss the importance of choosing a molecule with a natural Hamiltonian well suited to a NMR QIP by implementing the same algorithm on a second molecule. Finally, we show experimentally that decoherence after each step makes the statistics of the quantum walk tend to that of the classical random walk.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.72.062317

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An important quantum search algorithm based on the quantum random walk performs an oracle search on a database of NNN items with O(phN)O(\sqrt{\mathit{ph}N})O(phN​) calls, yielding a speedup similar to the Grover quantum search algorithm. The algorithm was implemented on a quantum information processor of three-qubit liquid-crystal nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in the case of finding 1 out of 4, and the diagonal elements' tomography of all the final density matrices was completed with comprehensible one-dimensional NMR spectra. The experimental results agree well with the theoretical predictions.
After a general introduction to nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), we give the basics of implementing quantum algorithms. We describe how qubits are realized and controlled with RF pulses, their internal interactions, and gradient fields. A peculiarity of NMR is that the internal interactions (given by the internal Hamiltonian) are always on. We discuss how they can be effectively turned off with the help of a standard NMR method called ``refocusing''. Liquid state NMR experiments are done at room temperature, leading to an extremely mixed (that is, nearly random) initial state. Despite this high degree of randomness, it is possible to investigate QIP because the relaxation time (the time scale over which useful signal from a computation is lost) is sufficiently long. We explain how this feature leads to the crucial ability of simulating a pure (non-random) state by using ``pseudopure'' states. We discuss how the ``answer'' provided by a computation is obtained by measurement and how this measurement differs from the ideal, projective measurement of QIP. We then give implementations of some simple quantum algorithms with a typical experimental result. We conclude with a discussion of what we have learned from NMR QIP so far and what the prospects for future NMR QIP experiments are.
Being able to quantify the level of coherent control in a proposed device implementing a quantum information processor (QIP) is an important task for both comparing different devices and assessing a device's prospects with regards to achieving fault-tolerant quantum control. We implement in a liquid-state nuclear magnetic resonance QIP the randomized benchmarking protocol presented by Knill et al (2008 Phys. Rev. A 77 012307). We report an error per randomized π/2 pulse of 1.3±0.1 × 10 −4 with a single-qubit QIP and show an experimentally relevant error model where the randomized benchmarking gives a signature fidelity decay which is not possible to interpret as a single error per gate. We explore and experimentally investigate multi-qubit extensions of this protocol and report an average error rate for one- and two-qubit gates of 4.7±0.3 × 10 −3 for a three-qubit QIP. We estimate that these error rates are still not decoherence limited and thus can be improved with modifications to the control hardware and software.
A quantum Fourier transform (QFT) has been implemented on a three qubit nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) quantum computer to extract the periodicity of an input state. Implementation of a QFT provides a first step towards the realization of Shor's factoring and other quantum algorithms. The experimental implementation of the QFT on a periodic state is presented along with a quantitative measure of its efficiency measured through state tomography. Experimentally realizing the QFT is a clear demonstration of the ability of NMR to control quantum systems.
We present experimental results approximating the Jones polynomial using 4 qubits in a liquid state nuclear magnetic resonance quantum information processor. This is the first experimental implementation of a complete problem for the deterministic quantum computation with one quantum bit model of quantum computation, which uses a single qubit accompanied by a register of completely random states. The Jones polynomial is a knot invariant that is important not only to knot theory, but also to statistical mechanics and quantum field theory. The implemented algorithm is a modification of the algorithm developed by Shor and Jordan suitable for implementation in NMR. These experimental results show that for the restricted case of knots whose braid representations have four strands and exactly three crossings, identifying distinct knots is possible 91% of the time.
Quantum walks have wide applications in quantum information, such as universal quantum computation, so it is important to explore properties of quantum walks thoroughly. We propose a novel method to implement discrete-time quantum walks (DTQWs) using only a single qubit, in which both coin and walker are encoded in the two-dimensional state space of a single qubit, operations are realized using single-qubit gates only, and high-dimensional final states of DTQWs can be obtained naturally. With this "one-qubit" approach, DTQW experiments can be realized much more easily, compared with previous methods, in most quantum systems and all properties based on quantum states of DTQWs (such as quantum correlation and coherence) can be investigated. By this approach, we experimentally implement one-particle and two-particle DTQWs with seven steps using single photons. Furthermore, we systematically investigate quantum correlations and coherence (based on the full state of the coin and walker) of the DTQW systems with different initial states of the coin, which have not been obtained and studied in DTQW experiments. As an application, we also study the assisted distillation of quantum coherence using the full state of the two-particle DTQW from the experiment. The maximal increase in distillable coherence for high-dimensional mixed states is investigated for the first time by obtaining its upper and lower bounds. Our work opens a new door to implement DTQW experiments and to better explore properties of quantum walks.