Quantum walks on Cayley graphs

We address the problem of the construction of quantum walks on Cayley graphs. Our main motivation is the relationship between quantum algorithms and quantum walks. In particular, we discuss the choice of the dimension of the local Hilbert space and consider various classes of graphs on which the structure of quantum walks may differ. We completely characterise quantum walks on free groups and present partial results on more general cases. Some examples are given, including a family of quantum walks on the hypercube involving a Clifford Algebra.Comment: J. Phys. A (accepted for publication

Spatial entanglement using a quantum walk on a many-body system

The evolution of a many-particle system on a one-dimensional lattice, subjected to a quantum walk can cause spatial entanglement in the lattice position, which can be exploited for quantum information/communication purposes. We demonstrate the evolution of spatial entanglement and its dependence on the quantum coin operation parameters, the number of particles present in the lattice and the number of steps of quantum walk on the system. Thus, spatial entanglement can be controlled and optimized using a many-particle discrete-time quantum walk.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures. Published versio

Almost uniform sampling via quantum walks

Many classical randomized algorithms (e.g., approximation algorithms for #P-complete problems) utilize the following random walk algorithm for {\em almost uniform sampling} from a state space $S$ of cardinality $N$: run a symmetric ergodic Markov chain $P$ on $S$ for long enough to obtain a random state from within $\epsilon$ total variation distance of the uniform distribution over $S$. The running time of this algorithm, the so-called {\em mixing time} of $P$, is $O(\delta^{-1} (\log N + \log \epsilon^{-1}))$, where $\delta$ is the spectral gap of $P$. We present a natural quantum version of this algorithm based on repeated measurements of the {\em quantum walk} $U_t = e^{-iPt}$. We show that it samples almost uniformly from $S$ with logarithmic dependence on $\epsilon^{-1}$ just as the classical walk $P$ does; previously, no such quantum walk algorithm was known. We then outline a framework for analyzing its running time and formulate two plausible conjectures which together would imply that it runs in time $O(\delta^{-1/2} \log N \log \epsilon^{-1})$ when $P$ is the standard transition matrix of a constant-degree graph. We prove each conjecture for a subclass of Cayley graphs.Comment: 13 pages; v2 added NSF grant info; v3 incorporated feedbac

Asymptotic entanglement in a two-dimensional quantum walk

The evolution operator of a discrete-time quantum walk involves a conditional shift in position space which entangles the coin and position degrees of freedom of the walker. After several steps, the coin-position entanglement (CPE) converges to a well defined value which depends on the initial state. In this work we provide an analytical method which allows for the exact calculation of the asymptotic reduced density operator and the corresponding CPE for a discrete-time quantum walk on a two-dimensional lattice. We use the von Neumann entropy of the reduced density operator as an entanglement measure. The method is applied to the case of a Hadamard walk for which the dependence of the resulting CPE on initial conditions is obtained. Initial states leading to maximum or minimum CPE are identified and the relation between the coin or position entanglement present in the initial state of the walker and the final level of CPE is discussed. The CPE obtained from separable initial states satisfies an additivity property in terms of CPE of the corresponding one-dimensional cases. Non-local initial conditions are also considered and we find that the extreme case of an initial uniform position distribution leads to the largest CPE variation.Comment: Major revision. Improved structure. Theoretical results are now separated from specific examples. Most figures have been replaced by new versions. The paper is now significantly reduced in size: 11 pages, 7 figure