Reaching Agreement in Quantum Hybrid Networks

Date

2017

Authors

Shi, Guodong
Li, Bo
Miao, Zibo
Downer, Peter M
James, Matthew

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Volume Title

Publisher

Nature Publishing Group

Abstract

We consider a basic quantum hybrid network model consisting of a number of nodes each holding a qubit, for which the aim is to drive the network to a consensus in the sense that all qubits reach a common state. Projective measurements are applied serving as control means, and the measurement results are exchanged among the nodes via classical communication channels. In this way the quantum-opeartion/classical-communication nature of hybrid quantum networks is captured, although coherent states and joint operations are not taken into consideration in order to facilitate a clear and explicit analysis. We show how to carry out centralized optimal path planning for this network with all-to-all classical communications, in which case the problem becomes a stochastic optimal control problem with a continuous action space. To overcome the computation and communication obstacles facing the centralized solutions, we also develop a distributed Pairwise Qubit Projection (PQP) algorithm, where pairs of nodes meet at a given time and respectively perform measurements at their geometric average. We show that the qubit states are driven to a consensus almost surely along the proposed PQP algorithm, and that the expected qubit density operators converge to the average of the network’s initial values.

Description

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Citation

Source

Scientific Reports

Type

Journal article

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Entity type

Access Statement

Open Access

License Rights

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

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