Quantum walks and quantum computation

The field of quantum information applies the concepts of quantum physics to problems in computer science, and shows great potential for allowing efficient computation. In this thesis I concentrate on a particular quantum information theoretic tool known as the quantum walk. There are two widely studied versions of the quantum walk, the continuous time walk, and the discrete time walk. The discrete time walk is particularly amenable to investigation using numerical methods, from which most of the results in this thesis are derived, and is the main focus of the work presented. Two aspects of the discrete time walk are investigated: their transport properties and their interpretation as quantum computers. I investigated the transport properties in two ways, by looking for a particular type of transport known as perfect state transfer, and examining the transport properties of a new type of coin operator. The search for perfect state transfer concentrated on modifications of small cycles. I found that perfect state transfer is rare for the choices of coin operators tested. The structures tested for perfect state transfer were based on cycles, and it appears that the type of modification has more of an effect than the size of the cycle. This makes intuitive sense, as the modifications found to lead to walks exhibiting perfect state transfer affected only the initial and target node of the cycle. I then investigated a new type of coin operator which does not allow amplitude to return to the node it has come from. This effectively simulates a dimer. Using the general form of this type of operator and random variables for each parameter, I found that the expected distance of the walker from the origin, and standard deviation, were independent of the initial condition. The second half of the thesis concentrates on computational applications of quantum walks using the language acceptance model. I first note their equivalence to a type of quantum automaton known as the QFA-WOM, and this provides an intuitive understanding of the role of the WOM. I then use a more direct construction to show that they can accept a range of formal languages. Using this construction allows us to use superpositions of words as inputs, and the insights provided by investigating these suggest a new way of approaching the problem of quantum state discrimination.