When confined to a topological environment consisting of a cycle coupled with a half-line, quantum walks exhibit long-term statistical tendencies which differ dramatically from the tendencies of classical random walks in the same environment. In particular, as suggested by numerical simulations, the probability distribution of the walker's position resolves, in part, into a non-vanishing distribution on the cycle and, in part, into a ballistic distribution on the half-line. By contrast, for a classical random walk, the probability distribution of the walker's position tends always to vanish on the cycle and to migrate completely to the half-line as a purely diffusive process.

For a discrete two-state quantum walk (QW) on the half-line with a general condition at the boundary, we formulate and prove a weak limit theorem describing the terminal behavior of its transition probabilities. In this context, localization is possible even for a walk predicated on the assumption of homogeneity. For the Hadamard walk on the half-line, the weak limit is shown to be independent of the initial coin state and to exhibit no localization.

Consider a discrete-time quantum walk on the $N$-cycle subject to decoherence both on the coin and the position degrees of freedom. By examining the evolution of the density matrix of the system, we derive some new conclusions about the asymptotic behavior of the system. When $N$ is odd, the density matrix of the system tends, in the long run, to the maximally mixed state, independent of the initial state. When $N$ is even, although the behavior of the system is not necessarily asymptotically stationary, in this case too an explicit formulation is obtained of the asymptotic dynamics of the system. Moreover, this approach enables us to specify the limiting behavior of the mutual information, viewed as a measure of quantum entanglement between subsystems (coin and walker). In particular, our results provide efficient theoretical confirmation of the findings of previous authors, who arrived at their results through extensive numerical simulations. Our results can be attributed to an important theorem which, for a generalized random unitary operation, explicitly identifies the structure of all of its eigenspaces corresponding to eigenvalues of unit modulus.

In a quantum Markov chain, the temporal succession of states is modeled by the repeated action of a "bistochastic quantum operation" on the density matrix of a quantum system. Based on this conceptual framework, we derive some new results concerning the evolution of a quantum system, including its long-term behavior. Among our findings is the fact that the Ces$\grave{a}$ro limit of any quantum Markov chain always exists and equals the orthogonal projection of the initial state upon the eigenspace of the unit eigenvalue of the bistochastic quantum operation. Moreover, if the unit eigenvalue is the only eigenvalue on the unit circle, then the quantum Markov chain converges in the conventional sense to the said orthogonal projection. As a corollary, we offer a new derivation of the classic result describing limiting distributions of unitary quantum walks on finite graphs \cite{AAKV01}.

In a quantum Markov chain, the temporal succession of states is modeled by the repeated action of a ``bistochastic quantum operation" on the density matrix of a quantum system. Based on this conceptual framework, we derive some new results concerning the evolution of a quantum system, including its long-term behavior. Our treatment of this subject includes two theorems which serve to describe, in general, the limiting behavior of any quantum Markov chain governed by any bistochastic quantum operation. These results amount to substantial, if not complete, progress toward settling an important open question in this line of research. In particular, our findings encompass, as special cases, a variety of results published by previous authors.

For a discrete time quantum walk (QW) on the N-cycle, allowing for decoherence on the coin, we derive a number of results, including an explicit formula for the position probability distribution. For a QW of this type, we show that the mixing behavior tends, in the long run, to a uniform distribution regardless of the initial state of the system and irrespective of the parity of the number of nodes N. These results confirm the findings of previous authors who arrived at similar conclusions through extensive numerical simulations. In particular, we infer that the mixing time M(epsilon) for the time-averaged probability distribution is of order no greater than O(N2/).

In this paper, we consider a discrete-time quantum walk on the N-cycle governed by the condition that at every time step of the walk, the option persists, with probability p, of exercising a projective measurement on the coin degree of freedom. For a bipartite quantum system of this kind, we prove that the von Neumann entropy of the total density operator converges to its maximum value. Thus, when influenced by decoherence, the mutual information between the two subsystems corresponding to the space of the coin and the space of the walker must eventually diminish to zero. Put plainly, any level of decoherence greater than zero forces the system to become completely ‘disentangled’ eventually.

In a quantum Markov chain, the temporal succession of states is modeled by the repeated action of a quantum operation on the density matrix of a quantum system. Based on this conceptual framework, we derive some new results concerning the evolution of a quantum system, including its long-term behavior. Among our findings is the fact that the Ces$\grave{a}$ro limit of any quantum Markov chain always exists and equals the orthogonal projection of the initial state upon the eigenspace of the unit eigenvalue of the bistochastic quantum operation. Moreover, if the unit eigenvalue is the only eigenvalue on the unit circle, then the quantum Markov chain converges in the conventional sense to the said orthogonal projection. As a corollary, we offer a new derivation of the classic result describing limiting distributions of unitary quantum walks on finite graphs \cite{AAKV01}.

For a discrete time quantum walk (QW) on the $N$-cycle, allowing for decoherence on the coin, we derive a number of new results, including an explicit formula for the position probability distribution. For a QW of this type, we show that the mixing behavior tends, in the long-run, to a uniform distribution, regardless of the initial state of the system and irrespective of the parity of the number of nodes $N$. These results confirm the findings of previous authors who arrived at similar conclusions through extensive numerical simulations. In particular, we infer that the mixing time $\bar{M(\epsilon)}$ for the time-everaged probability distribution is of order no greater than $O(N^2/\epsilon)$.

To factor an integer N, given that it is equal to the product of two primes, it suffices to find an integer d satisfying a certain simple numerical test. In this approach, the factorization problem equates to the problem of designing an optimal data base of values d to be tested.

We offer theoretical explanations for some recent observations in numerical simulations of quantum random walks (QRWs). Specifically, in the case of a QRW on the line with one particle (walker) and two entangled coins, we explain the phenomenon, called ``localization,'' whereby the probability distribution of the walker's position is seen to exhibit a persistent major ``spike'' (or ``peak'') at the initial position and two other minor spikes which drift to infinity in either direction. Another interesting finding in connection with QRWs of this sort pertains to the limiting behavior of the position probability distribution. It is seen that the probability of finding the walker at any given location eventually becomes stationary and nonvanishing. We explain these observations in terms of the degeneration of some eigenvalue of the time evolution operator $U(k)$. An explicit general formula is derived for the limiting probability, from which we deduce the limiting value of the height of the observed spike at the origin. We show that the limiting probability decreases quadratically for large values of the position $x$. We locate the two minor spikes and demonstrate that their positions are determined by the phases of nondegenerated eigenvalues of $U(k)$. Finally, for fixed time $t$ sufficiently large, we examine the dependence on $t$ of the probability of finding a particle at a given location $x$.

We present an elementary prescription based on the rational secant method for generating all the integral triangles containing a given angle of rational cosine. This is a direct generalization of the ancient problem of finding all the Pythagorean triples. As an example, we discuss a specific equation studied by Diophantus of Alexandria, which turns out to be equivalent to the problem of finding all the integral triangles containing a 60∘ angle. The material developed here is elementary enough for inclusion in undergraduate courses and advanced high school courses.

We establish a generalized version of the classical Poisson summation formula. This formula incorporates a special feature called “compression”, whereby, at the same time that the formula equates a series to its Fourier dual, the compressive feature serves to enable both sides of the equation to converge.