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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 55: Poster III

Q 55.10: Poster

Thursday, March 5, 2009, 16:30–19:00, VMP 8 Foyer

Quantum random walk with linear optics — •Andreas Schreiber, Katiuscia Cassemiro, and Christine Silberhorn — Günther-Scharowsky-Str. 1, Bau 24 , D-91058 Erlangen

In a classical random walk the probability distribution for the walker’s position is a Gaussian, which variance equals to the number of steps (σ²=n). Contrariwise, the quantum counterpart shows a quadratically faster spread, due to quantum interference.

We implement a discrete time quantum random walk (QRW) in one dimension. Photons traveling through an optical fiber network undergo a conditional time translation, which depends on the polarization state selected by a coin. The experiment is realized with intense light field, but it can straightforwardly be extended to the single photon level.

As the classical random walk has many applications in classical computation, the QRW is a potential tool to speed up the realization of algorithms in a quantum computer.