A new type of limit theorems for the one-dimensional quantum random walk (Q2583062)

The paper starts with a clear mathematical definition of a quantum random walk \(X_n^\varphi\). The time evolution is determined by a \(2\times 2\) unitary matrix \(U\). Some of their applications are given in \textit{A. Ambainis} [Int. J. Quantum Inf. 1, No. 4, 507--518 (2003; Zbl 1069.81505)]. The main result is that if none of the entries of \(U\) is 0, then \(X_n^\varphi/n\) converges in law as \(n\to \infty\). The limit distribution is given explicitely in terms of the entries of \(U\) and of the initial quantum bit \(\varphi\). Although a quantum random walk shares many similarity with a simple random walk on \(\mathbb{Z}\), it is not a stochastic process but a sequence of distributions on \(\mathbb{Z}\). Hence the importance of the convergence in law. The proof follows a path integral approach described by A. Ambainis, E. Bach, A. Nayak, A. Vishwanath and J. Watrous (2001) to obtain a combinatorial expression of the characteristic function of the quantum walk. As a corollary, the higher-order moments of \(X_n^\varphi\) are obtained and a necessary and sufficient condition for the symmetry of the distributions is given. It is a generalization of the results on the Hadamard walk obtained by \textit{N. Konno, T. Namiki} and \textit{T. Soshi} [Interdiscip. Inf. Sci. 10, No. 1, 11--22 (2004; Zbl 1052.60079)].