English

P\'olya number of continuous-time quantum walks

Quantum Physics 2015-03-17 v2

Abstract

We propose a definition for the P\'olya number of continuous-time quantum walks to characterize their recurrence properties. The definition involves a series of measurements on the system, each carried out on a different member from an ensemble in order to minimize the disturbance caused by it. We examine various graphs, including the ring, the line, higher dimensional integer lattices and a number of other graphs and calculate their P\'olya number. For the timing of the measurements a Poisson process as well as regular timing are discussed. We find that the speed of decay for the probability at the origin is the key for recurrence.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1004.5286,
  title  = {P\'olya number of continuous-time quantum walks},
  author = {Z. Darázs and T. Kiss},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1004.5286},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

8 pages, no figures. Accepted for publication in Physical Review A

R2 v1 2026-06-21T15:16:27.618Z