0000000000205934
AUTHOR
Giuseppe Di Molfetta
Quantum walk on a cylinder
We consider the 2D alternate quantum walk on a cylinder. We concentrate on the study of the motion along the open dimension, in the spirit of looking at the closed coordinate as a small or "hidden" extra dimension. If one starts from localized initial conditions on the lattice, the dynamics of the quantum walk that is obtained after tracing out the small dimension shows the contribution of several components, which can be understood from the study of the dispersion relations for this problem. In fact, these components originate from the contribution of the possible values of the quasi-momentum in the closed dimension. In the continuous space-time limit, the different components manifest as …
Quantum simulation of quantum relativistic diffusion via quantum walks
Two models are first presented, of one-dimensional discrete-time quantum walk (DTQW) with temporal noise on the internal degree of freedom (i.e., the coin): (i) a model with both a coin-flip and a phase-flip channel, and (ii) a model with random coin unitaries. It is then shown that both these models admit a common limit in the spacetime continuum, namely, a Lindblad equation with Dirac-fermion Hamiltonian part and, as Lindblad jumps, a chirality flip and a chirality-dependent phase flip, which are two of the three standard error channels for a two-level quantum system. This, as one may call it, Dirac Lindblad equation, provides a model of quantum relativistic spatial diffusion, which is ev…
Electromagnetic lattice gauge invariance in two-dimensional discrete-time quantum walks
International audience; Gauge invariance is one of the more important concepts in physics. We discuss this concept in connection with the unitary evolution of discrete-time quantum walks in one and two spatial dimensions, when they include the interaction with synthetic, external electromagnetic fields. One introduces this interaction as additional phases that play the role of gauge fields. Here, we present a way to incorporate those phases, which differs from previous works. Our proposal allows the discrete derivatives, that appear under a gauge transformation, to treat time and space on the same footing, in a way which is similar to standard lattice gauge theories. By considering two step…
Dirac equation as a quantum walk over the honeycomb and triangular lattices
A discrete-time Quantum Walk (QW) is essentially an operator driving the evolution of a single particle on the lattice, through local unitaries. Some QWs admit a continuum limit, leading to well-known physics partial differential equations, such as the Dirac equation. We show that these simulation results need not rely on the grid: the Dirac equation in $(2+1)$--dimensions can also be simulated, through local unitaries, on the honeycomb or the triangular lattice. The former is of interest in the study of graphene-like materials. The latter, we argue, opens the door for a generalization of the Dirac equation to arbitrary discrete surfaces.
Quantum walks and non-Abelian discrete gauge theory
A new family of discrete-time quantum walks (DTQWs) on the line with an exact discrete $U(N)$ gauge invariance is introduced. It is shown that the continuous limit of these DTQWs, when it exists, coincides with the dynamics of a Dirac fermion coupled to usual $U(N)$ gauge fields in $2D$ spacetime. A discrete generalization of the usual $U(N)$ curvature is also constructed. An alternate interpretation of these results in terms of superimposed $U(1)$ Maxwell fields and $SU(N)$ gauge fields is discussed in the Appendix. Numerical simulations are also presented, which explore the convergence of the DTQWs towards their continuous limit and which also compare the DTQWs with classical (i.e. non-qu…