Quantum walks and its applications in quantum networks

• Grant number: 23/06452-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 20, 2023
• End date: December 19, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Computer Science
• Principal Investigator: Fabio Kon
• Grantee: André Nogueira Ribeiro
• Supervisor: Donald Fred Towsley
• Host Institution: Instituto de Matemática e Estatística (IME). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Massachusetts, Amherst (UMass Amherst), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 22/07594-2 - Quantum computing and quantum internet, BP.IC

Abstract

Quantum walks are a powerful algorithmic tool in quantum computing. They have proven to be universal for quantum computing and have provided quantum speed-ups in a myriad of applications. Despite all their generality and properties, quantum walks are simple. In particular, discrete-time coined quantum walks are described by the product of two operators, known as the coin and shift operators, which are sufficient to implement arbitrary quantum algorithms. This project aims to explore quantum walks in the context of quantum networks. It has been previously demonstrated that quantum walks can be used to control distributed quantum operations in network nodes under the assumption that network nodes have access to ideal quantum gates and memories. It is of interest to extend this initial formulation to consider imperfections in quantum gate implementations and decoherence in quantum memory. Therefore, we plan to develop a simulation of the quantum walk protocol to investigate how to modify the protocol to use quantum error correction primitives in order to bridge the gap between its initial logical description and a possible implementation in NISQ devices. (AU)