We extend the circuit model of quantum comuptation so that the wiring between gates is soft-coded within registers inside the gates. The addresses in these registers can be manipulated and put into superpositions. This aims at capturing indefinite causal orders, as well as making their geometrical layout explicit. We show how to implement the quantum switch and the polarizing beam splitter within our model. One difficulty is that the names used as addresses should not matter beyond the wiring they describe, i.e. the evolution should commute with renamings. Yet, the evolution may act nontrivially on these names. Our main technical contribution is a full characterization of such nameblind matrices.
This volume contains the proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Quantum Physics and Logic (QPL 2020), which was held June 2-6, 2020. Quantum Physics and Logic is an annual conference that brings together researchers working on mathematical foundations of quantum physics, quantum computing, and related areas, with a focus on structural perspectives and the use of logical tools, ordered algebraic and category-theoretic structures, formal languages, semantical methods, and other computer science techniques applied to the study of physical behavior in general. Work that applies structures and methods inspired by quantum theory to other fields (including computer science) is also welcome.
We build a quantum cellular automaton (QCA) which coincides with 1+1 QED on its known continuum limits. It consists in a circuit of unitary gates driving the evolution of particles on a one dimensional lattice, and having them interact with the gauge field on the links. The particles are massive fermions, and the evolution is exactly U(1) gauge-invariant. We show that, in the continuous-time discrete-space limit, the QCA converges to the Kogut-Susskind staggered version of 1+1 QED. We also show that, in the continuous spacetime limit and in the free one particle sector, it converges to the Dirac equation, a strong indication that the model remains accurate in the relativistic regime.
Gauge symmetries play a fundamental role in Physics, as they provide a mathematical justification for the fundamental forces. Usually, one starts from a non-interactive theory which governs `matter, and features a global symmetry. One then extends the theory so as make the global symmetry into a local one (a.k.a gauge-invariance). We formalise a discrete counterpart of this process, known as gauge extension, within the Computer Science framework of Cellular Automata (CA). We prove that the CA which admit a relative gauge extension are exactly the globally symmetric ones (a.k.a the colour-blind). We prove that any CA admits a non-relative gauge extension. Both constructions yield universal gauge-invariant CA, but the latter allows for a first example where the gauge extension mediates interactions within the initial CA.
We provide a robust notion of quantum superpositions of graphs. Quantum superpositions of graphs crucially require node names for their correct alignment, as we demonstrate through a non-signalling argument. Nevertheless, node names are a fiducial construct, serving a similar purpose to the labelling of points through a choice of coordinates in continuous space. We explain that graph renamings are, indeed, a natively discrete analogue of diffeomorphisms. We show how to impose renaming invariance at the level of graphs and their quantum superpositions.
Gauge-invariance is a fundamental concept in Physics---known to provide mathematical justification for the fundamental forces. In this paper, we provide discrete counterparts to the main gauge theoretical concepts directly in terms of Cellular Automata. More precisely, the notions of gauge-invariance and gauge-equivalence in Cellular Automata are formalized. A step-by-step gauging procedure to enforce this symmetry upon a given Cellular Automaton is developed, and three examples of gauge-invariant Cellular Automata are examined.
We provide first evidence that under certain conditions, 1/2-spin fermions may naturally behave like a Grover search, looking for topological defects in a material. The theoretical framework is that of discrete-time quantum walks (QW), i.e. local unitary matrices that drive the evolution of a single particle on the lattice. Some QW are well-known to recover the $(2+1)$--dimensional Dirac equation in continuum limit, i.e. the free propagation of the 1/2-spin fermion. We study two such Dirac QW, one on the square grid and the other on a triangular grid reminiscent of graphene-like materials. The numerical simulations show that the walker localises around the defects in $O(sqrt{N})$ steps with probability $O(1/log{N})$, in line with previous QW search on the grid. The main advantage brought by those of this paper is that they could be implemented as `naturally occurring freely propagating particles over a surface featuring topological---without the need for a specific oracle step. From a quantum computing perspective, however, this hints at novel applications of QW search : instead of using them to look for `good solutions within the configuration space of a problem, we could use them to look for topological properties of the entire configuration space.
Gauge-invariance is a mathematical concept that has profound implications in Physics---as it provides the justification of the fundamental interactions. It was recently adapted to the Cellular Automaton (CA) framework, in a restricted case. In this paper, this treatment is generalized to non-abelian gauge-invariance, including the notions of gauge-equivalent theories and gauge-invariants of configurations
Nowadays, quantum simulation schemes come in two flavours. Either they are continuous-time discrete-space models (a.k.a Hamiltonian-based), pertaining to non-relativistic quantum mechanics. Or they are discrete-spacetime models (a.k.a Quantum Walks or Quantum Cellular Automata-based) enjoying a relativistic continuous spacetime limit. We provide a first example of a quantum simulation scheme that unifies both approaches. The proposed scheme supports both a continuous-time discrete-space limit, leading to lattice fermions, and a continuous-spacetime limit, leading to the Dirac equation. The transition between the two can be thought of as a general relativistic change of coordinates, pushed to an extreme. As an emergent by-product of this procedure, we obtain a Hamiltonian for lattice-fermions in curved spacetime with synchronous coordinates.
We extend Cellular Automata to time-varying discrete geometries. In other words we formalize, and prove theorems about, the intuitive idea of a discrete manifold which evolves in time, subject to two natural constraints: the evolution does not propagate information too fast; and it acts everywhere the same. For this purpose we develop a correspondence between complexes and labeled graphs. In particular we reformulate the properties that characterize discrete manifolds amongst complexes, solely in terms of graphs. In dimensions $n<4$, over bounded-star graphs, it is decidable whether a Cellular Automaton maps discrete manifolds into discrete manifolds.
