Equivalent Laplacian and Adjacency Quantum Walks on Irregular Graphs

TL;DR

This paper investigates conditions under which continuous-time quantum walks based on Laplacian and adjacency matrices are equivalent on irregular graphs, identifying specific graphs and families where their probability distributions match.

Contribution

It analytically and computationally identifies irregular graphs where Laplacian and adjacency quantum walks produce identical probability distributions, extending known equivalences beyond regular graphs.

Findings

Identified 64 irregular graphs with equivalent quantum walks.

Proved equivalence analytically for specific small graphs.

Discovered 8 infinite families of such graphs.

Abstract

The continuous-time quantum walk is a particle evolving by Schr\"odinger's equation in discrete space. Encoding the space as a graph of vertices and edges, the Hamiltonian is proportional to the discrete Laplacian. In some physical systems, however, the Hamiltonian is proportional to the adjacency matrix instead. It is well-known that these quantum walks are equivalent when the graph is regular, i.e., when each vertex has the same number of neighbors. If the graph is irregular, however, the quantum walks evolve differently. In this paper, we show that for some irregular graphs, if the particle is initially localized at a certain vertex, the probability distributions of the two quantum walks are identical, even though the amplitudes differ. We analytically prove this for a graph with five vertices and a graph with six vertices. By simulating the walks on all 1,018,689,568 simple, connected, irregular graphs with eleven vertices or less, we found sixty-four graphs with this notion of equivalence. We also give eight infinite families of graphs supporting these equivalent walks.