Discrete Quantum Walks on the Symmetric Group

Abstract

The theory of random walks on finite graphs is well developed with numerous applications. In quantum walks, the propagation is governed by quantum mechanical rules; generalizing random walks to the quantum setting. They have been successfully applied in the development of quantum algorithms. In particular, to solve problems that can be mapped to searching or property testing on some specific graph. In this paper we investigate the discrete time coined quantum walk (DTCQW) model using tools from non-commutative Fourier analysis. Specifically, we are interested in characterizing the DTCQW on Cayley graphs generated by the symmetric group (S n ) with appropriate generating sets. The lack of commutativity makes it challenging to find an analytical description of the limiting behavior with respect to the spectrum of the walk-operator. We determine certain characteristics of these walks using a path integral approach over the characters of S n .