Non-uniform mixing of quantum walk on cycles

Abstract

A classical lazy random walk on cycles is known to mix to the uniform distribution. In contrast, we show that a continuous-time quantum walk on cycles exhibit strong non-uniform mixing properties. Our results include the following: - The instantaneous distribution of a quantum walk on most even-length cycles is never uniform. - The average distribution of a quantum walk on any Abelian circulant graph is never uniform. As a corollary, the average distribution of a quantum walk on any standard circulant graph, such as the cycles, complete graphs, and even hypercubes, is never uniform.