5 research outputs found
The quantum to classical transition for random walks
We look at two possible routes to classical behavior for the discrete quantum
random walk on the line: decoherence in the quantum ``coin'' which drives the
walk, or the use of higher-dimensional coins to dilute the effects of
interference. We use the position variance as an indicator of classical
behavior, and find analytical expressions for this in the long-time limit; we
see that the multicoin walk retains the ``quantum'' quadratic growth of the
variance except in the limit of a new coin for every step, while the walk with
decoherence exhibits ``classical'' linear growth of the variance even for weak
decoherence.Comment: 4 pages RevTeX 4.0 + 2 figures (encapsulated Postscript). Trimmed for
length. Minor corrections + one new referenc
Quantum random walks with decoherent coins
The quantum random walk has been much studied recently, largely due to its
highly nonclassical behavior. In this paper, we study one possible route to
classical behavior for the discrete quantum walk on the line: the presence of
decoherence in the quantum ``coin'' which drives the walk. We find exact
analytical expressions for the time dependence of the first two moments of
position, and show that in the long-time limit the variance grows linearly with
time, unlike the unitary walk. We compare this to the results of direct
numerical simulation, and see how the form of the position distribution changes
from the unitary to the usual classical result as we increase the strength of
the decoherence.Comment: Minor revisions, especially in introduction. Published versio
Quantum Walks driven by many coins
Quantum random walks have been much studied recently, largely due to their
highly nonclassical behavior. In this paper, we study one possible route to
classical behavior for the discrete quantum random walk on the line: the use of
multiple quantum ``coins'' in order to diminish the effects of interference
between paths. We find solutions to this system in terms of the single coin
random walk, and compare the asymptotic limit of these solutions to numerical
simulations. We find exact analytical expressions for the time-dependence of
the first two moments, and show that in the long time limit the ``quantum
mechanical'' behavior of the one-coin walk persists. We further show that this
is generic for a very broad class of possible walks, and that this behavior
disappears only in the limit of a new coin for every step of the walk.Comment: 36 pages RevTeX 4.0 + 5 figures (encapsulated Postscript). Submitted
to Physical Review