The QWalk simulator of quantum walks Original Research Article

Several research groups are giving special attention to quantum walks recently, because this research area have been used with success in the development of new efficient quantum algorithms. A general simulator of quantum walks is very important for the development of this area, since it allows the researchers to focus on the mathematical and physical aspects of the research instead of deviating the efforts to the implementation of specific numerical simulations. In this paper we present QWalk, a quantum walk simulator for one- and two-dimensional lattices. Finite two-dimensional lattices with generic topologies can be used. Decoherence can be simulated by performing measurements or by breaking links of the lattice. We use examples to explain the usage of the software and to show some recent results of the literature that are easily reproduced by the simulator.