Ocorre atualmente um movimento de aumento da importância que a manutenção da segurança da informação vem adquirindo em redes de informação de crítica. Ao longo das últimas décadas a utilização de ferramentas criptográficas, especialmente aquelas baseadas em problemas de díficil solução computacional, foram suficientes para garantir a segurança dos sistemas de comunicação. Contudo, o desenvolvimento da nova técnica de processamento de informação conhecida como computação quântica e os resultados téoricos e experimentais apresentados por esta mostram que é possível inviabilizar alguns dos sistemas de criptografia atuais amplamente utilizados. A existência de tal vulnerabilidade representa um fator crítico em redes em que falhas de segurança da informação podem estar associadas a riscos de segurança física. Uma alternativa para os métodos criptográficos atuais consiste na utilização de sistemas quânticos na obtenção de um método criptográfico, o que se conhece como criptografia quântica. Este novo paradigma tem seu fundamento resistente mesmo na presença de capacidade tecnológica ilimitada, incluindo o cenário com disponibilidade de computação quântica. Este trabalho tem como objetivo levantar os impactos que o desenvolvimento da computação quântica têm sobre a segurança dos atuais sistemas criptográficos, apresentar e desenvolver alternativas de protocolos de criptografia quântica disponíveis, e realizar um estudo de caso por meio da avaliação da utilização de criptografia quântica no contexto da Aeronautical Telecommunication Network (ATN). Isto é feito por meio do desenvolvimento de um ambiente de simulacão que permite avaliar o comportamento de um protocolo de criptografia quântica em um cenário em um ambiente com requisitos de missão crítica, como é o caso da ATN. / The importance of security maintenance in critical information networks has been rising in recent times. Over the past decades, the utilization of cryptography tools, mainly those based on computationally intractable problems, was enough to ensure the security of communications systems. The development of the new information processing technique known as quantum computation and the theoretical and experimental results showed by this approach demonstrated that could be possible to cripple the current widely used cryptography techniques. This vulnerability represents a critical issue for networks where a security fault could be associated to a safety fault. An alternative for the current cryptography methods consists in the utilization of quantum systems to obtain a new cryptographic method. The new paradigm presented by this approach has solid principles even in the presence of unlimited computational capacity, including the scenario with availability of quantum computation. The aim of this work is the assessment of impacts that the development of quantum computation has over the current cryptographic methods security, the presentation and development of alternatives based on quantum cryptography protocols, and the development of a case study using the case of Aeronautical Telecommunication Network (ATN). This aim is reached by means of the development of a simulation environment that allows the evaluation of a quantum cryptography protocol behavior in an environment with mission critical requirements, like the ATN case.

This project is a comprehensive investigation into the application of the exchange interaction, particularly with the realization of the SWAP^1/n quantum operator, in quantum information processing. We study the generation, characterization and application of entanglement in such systems. Given the non-commutativity of neighbouring SWAP^1/n gates, the mathematical study of combinations of these gates is an interesting avenue of research that we have explored, though due to the exponential scaling of the complexity of the problem with the number of qubits in the system, numerical techniques, though good for few-qubit systems, are found to be inefficient for this research problem when we look at systems with higher number of qubits. Since the group of SWAP^1/n operators is found to be isomorphic to the symmetric group Sn, we employ group-theoretic methods to find the relevant invariant subspaces and associated vector-states. Some interesting patterns of states are found including onedimensional invariant subspaces spanned by W-states and the Hamming-weight preserving symmetry of the vectors spanning the various invariant subspaces. We also devise new ways of characterizing entanglement and approach the separability problem by looking at permutation symmetries of subsystems of quantum states. This idea is found to form a bridge with the entanglement characterization tool of Peres-Horodecki's Partial Positive Transpose (PPT), for mixed quantum states. We also look at quantum information taskoriented 'distance' measures of entanglement, besides devising a new entanglement witness in the 'engle'. In terms of applications, we define five different formalisms for quantum computing: the circuit-based model, the encoded qubit model, the cluster-state model, functional quantum computation and the qudit-based model. Later in the thesis, we explore the idea of quantum computing based on decoherence-free subspaces. We also investigate ways of applying the SWAP^1/n in entanglement swapping for quantum repeaters, quantum communication protocols and quantum memory.

Orientador: Alexandre César Rodrigues da Silva / Abstract: Research in the field of quantum circuits has increased as technology advances in the development of quantum computers. IBM offers access to quantum computers via the cloud service called IBM Q. However, these architectures have some restrictions regarding the types of quantum gates that can be realized. This work proposes a methodology for the mapping of quantum and reversible circuits to the architectures made available by the IBM Q project. The methodology consists in finding CNOT mappings using a set of defined qubits movements to satisfy the architectures constraints by adding as few gates as possible. In order to reduce the number of CNOT gates needing mapping, the permutation of the circuit can be changed. One alternative to find this permutation is trough exhaustive search. However, is not feasible as the number of qubit increases. To solve this problem, the permutation problem was formulated as an Integer Linear Programming problem. The mapping of quantum circuits realized with non-implementable gates and reversible Toffoli circuits to the IBM quantum architectures were proposed in this work as well. This was done by adapting the developed CNOT mappings along with the Integer Linear Programming formulation. The proposed methodology was evaluated by mapping quantum and reversible circuits to an IBM quantum architectures with 5 and 16 qubits. The results were compared with two algorithms that map quantum circuits to IBM architectures. The cost metric used in the evalua... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Resumo: Pesquisa no campo de circuitos quânticos tem alavancado conforme a tecnologia avança no desenvolvimento de computadores quânticos. Atualmente, a IBM oferece acesso a computadores quânticos através do serviço em nuvem chamado IBM Q. No entanto, essas arquiteturas têm algumas restrições com relação aos tipos de portas quânticas e qubits em que uma porta CNOT pode ser implementada. Neste trabalho foi proposta uma metodologia para o mapeamento de circuitos quânticos e reversíveis para as arquiteturas disponibilizadas pelo projeto IBM Q. A metodologia consiste em mapear as portas CNOT utilizando uma série de movimentos de qubits, mantendo a permutação do circuito inalterada. A fim de reduzir o número de portas CNOT não implementáveis, a permutação do circuito pode ser alterada. Uma alternativa para encontrar essa permutação é a busca exaustiva. No entanto, é inviável conforme o número de qubits aumenta. Para resolver este problema, o problema de permutação foi formulado como um problema de Programação Linear Inteira. Como a metodologia é facilmente adaptável, o mapeamento de circuitos quânticos utilizando portas quânticas não implementáveis e circuitos reversíveis Toffoli também foram propostas neste trabalho. A avaliação da metodologia proposta foi feita com a realização do mapeamento de circuitos quânticos e reversíveis para arquiteturas quânticas com 5 e 16 qubits. Os resultados foram comparados com dois algoritmos que mapeiam circuitos quânticos para arquiteturas IBM. A métric... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Doutor

<p>Quantum phenomena related to geometric and topological phases are investigated. The first results presented are theoretical extensions of these phases and related effects. Also experimental proposals to measure some of the described effects are outlined. Thereafter, applications of geometric and topological phases in quantum computation are discussed.</p><p>The notion of geometric phases is extended to cover mixed states undergoing unitary evolutions in interferometry. A comparison with a previously proposed definition of a mixed state geometric phase is made. In addition, an experimental test distinguishing these two phase concepts is proposed. Furthermore, an interferometry based geometric phase is introduced for systems undergoing evolutions described by completely positive maps.</p><p>The dynamics of an Aharonov-Bohm system is investigated within the adiabatic approximation. It is shown that the time-reversal symmetry for a semi-fluxon, a particle with an associated magnetic flux which carries half a flux unit, is unexpectedly broken due to the Aharonov-Casher modification in the adiabatic approximation.</p><p>The Aharonov-Casher Hamiltonian is used to determine the energy quantisation of neutral magnetic dipoles in electric fields. It is shown that for specific electric field configurations, one may acquire energy quantisation similar to the Landau effect for a charged particle in a homogeneous magnetic field.</p><p>We furthermore show how the geometric phase can be used to implement fault tolerant quantum computations. Such computations are robust to area preserving perturbations from the environment. Topological fault-tolerant quantum computations based on the Aharonov-Casher set up are also investigated.</p>

<p>Quantum holonomies are investigated in different contexts.</p><p>A geometric phase is proposed for decomposition dependent evolution, where each component of a given decomposition of a mixed state evolves independently. It is shown that this geometric phase only depends on the path traversed in the space of decompositions.</p><p>A holonomy is associated to general paths of subspaces of a Hilbert space, both discrete and continuous. This opens up the possibility of constructing quantum holonomic gates in the open path setting. In the discrete case it is shown that it is possible to associate two distinct holonomies to a given path. Interferometric setups for measuring both holonomies are</p><p>provided. It is further shown that there are cases when the holonomy is only partially defined. This has no counterpart in the Abelian setting.</p><p>An operational interpretation of amplitudes of density operators is provided. This allows for a direct interferometric realization of Uhlmann's parallelity condition, and the possibility of measuring the Uhlmann holonomy for sequences of density operators.</p><p>Off-diagonal geometric phases are generalized to the non-Abelian case. These off-diagonal holonomies are undefined for cyclic evolution, but must contain members of non-zero rank if all standard holonomies are undefined. Experimental setups for measuring the off-diagonal holonomies are proposed.</p><p>The concept of nodal free geometric phases is introduced. These are constructed from gauge invariant quantities, but do not share the nodal point structure of geometric phases and off-diagonal geometric phases. An interferometric setup for measuring nodal free geometric phases is provided, and it is shown that these phases could be useful in geometric quantum computation.</p><p>A holonomy associated to a sequence of quantum maps is introduced. It is shown that this holonomy is related to the Uhlmann holonomy. Explicit examples are provided to illustrate the general idea.</p>

One of the newer and rapidly developing approaches in quantum computing is based on "quantum walks," which are quantum processes on discrete space that evolve in either discrete or continuous time and are characterized by mixing of components at each step. The idea emerged in analogy with the classical random walks and stochastic techniques, but these unitary processes are very different even as they have intriguing similarities. This thesis is concerned with study of discrete-time quantum walks. The original motivation from classical Markov chains required for discrete-time quantum walks that one adds an auxiliary Hilbert space, unrelated to the one in which the system evolves, in order to be able to mix components in that space and then take the evolution steps accordingly (based on the state in that space). This additional, "coin," space is very often an internal degree of freedom like spin. We have introduced a general framework for construction of discrete-time quantum walks in a close analogy with the classical random walks with memory that is rather different from the standard "coin" approach. In this method there is no need to bring in a different degree of freedom, while the full state of the system is still described in the direct product of spaces (of states). The state can be thought of as an arrow pointing from the previous to the current site in the evolution, representing the one-step memory. The next step is then controlled by a single local operator assigned to each site in the space, acting quite like a scattering operator. This allows us to probe and solve some problems of interest that have not had successful approaches with "coined" walks. We construct and solve a walk on the binary tree, a structure of great interest but until our result without an explicit discrete time quantum walk, due to difficulties in managing coin spaces necessary in the standard approach. Beyond algorithmic interests, the model based on memory allows one to explore effects of history on the quantum evolution and the subtle emergence of classical features as "memory" is explicitly kept for additional steps. We construct and solve a walk with an additional correlation step, finding interesting new features. On the other hand, the fact that the evolution is driven entirely by a local operator, not involving additional spaces, enables us to choose the Fourier transform as an operator completely controlling the evolution. This in turn allows us to combine the quantum walk approach with Fourier transform based techniques, something decidedly not possible in classical computational physics. We are developing a formalism for building networks manageable by walks constructed with this framework, based on the surprising efficiency of our framework in discovering internals of a simple network that we so far solved. Finally, in line with our expectation that the field of quantum walks can take cues from the rich history of development of the classical stochastic techniques, we establish starting points for the work on non-Abelian quantum walks, with a particular quantum walk analog of the classical "card shuffling," the walk on the permutation group. In summary, this thesis presents a new framework for construction of discrete time quantum walks, employing and exploring memoried nature of unitary evolution. It is applied to fully solving the problems of: A walk on the binary tree and exploration of the quantum-to-classical transition with increased correlation length (history). It is then used for simple network discovery, and to lay the groundwork for analysis of complex networks, based on combined power of efficient exploration of the Hilbert space (as a walk mixing components) and Fourier transformation (since we can choose this for the evolution operator). We hope to establish this as a general technique as its power would be unmatched by any approaches available in the classical computing. We also looked at the promising and challenging prospect of walks on non-Abelian structures by setting up the problem of "quantum card shuffling," a quantum walk on the permutation group. Relation to other work is thoroughly discussed throughout, along with examination of the context of our work and overviews of our current and future work. / Graduation date: 2012

Quantum phenomena related to geometric and topological phases are investigated. The first results presented are theoretical extensions of these phases and related effects. Also experimental proposals to measure some of the described effects are outlined. Thereafter, applications of geometric and topological phases in quantum computation are discussed. The notion of geometric phases is extended to cover mixed states undergoing unitary evolutions in interferometry. A comparison with a previously proposed definition of a mixed state geometric phase is made. In addition, an experimental test distinguishing these two phase concepts is proposed. Furthermore, an interferometry based geometric phase is introduced for systems undergoing evolutions described by completely positive maps. The dynamics of an Aharonov-Bohm system is investigated within the adiabatic approximation. It is shown that the time-reversal symmetry for a semi-fluxon, a particle with an associated magnetic flux which carries half a flux unit, is unexpectedly broken due to the Aharonov-Casher modification in the adiabatic approximation. The Aharonov-Casher Hamiltonian is used to determine the energy quantisation of neutral magnetic dipoles in electric fields. It is shown that for specific electric field configurations, one may acquire energy quantisation similar to the Landau effect for a charged particle in a homogeneous magnetic field. We furthermore show how the geometric phase can be used to implement fault tolerant quantum computations. Such computations are robust to area preserving perturbations from the environment. Topological fault-tolerant quantum computations based on the Aharonov-Casher set up are also investigated.

Quantum holonomies are investigated in different contexts. A geometric phase is proposed for decomposition dependent evolution, where each component of a given decomposition of a mixed state evolves independently. It is shown that this geometric phase only depends on the path traversed in the space of decompositions. A holonomy is associated to general paths of subspaces of a Hilbert space, both discrete and continuous. This opens up the possibility of constructing quantum holonomic gates in the open path setting. In the discrete case it is shown that it is possible to associate two distinct holonomies to a given path. Interferometric setups for measuring both holonomies are provided. It is further shown that there are cases when the holonomy is only partially defined. This has no counterpart in the Abelian setting. An operational interpretation of amplitudes of density operators is provided. This allows for a direct interferometric realization of Uhlmann's parallelity condition, and the possibility of measuring the Uhlmann holonomy for sequences of density operators. Off-diagonal geometric phases are generalized to the non-Abelian case. These off-diagonal holonomies are undefined for cyclic evolution, but must contain members of non-zero rank if all standard holonomies are undefined. Experimental setups for measuring the off-diagonal holonomies are proposed. The concept of nodal free geometric phases is introduced. These are constructed from gauge invariant quantities, but do not share the nodal point structure of geometric phases and off-diagonal geometric phases. An interferometric setup for measuring nodal free geometric phases is provided, and it is shown that these phases could be useful in geometric quantum computation. A holonomy associated to a sequence of quantum maps is introduced. It is shown that this holonomy is related to the Uhlmann holonomy. Explicit examples are provided to illustrate the general idea.

We provide a quantum algorithm for the exact evaluation of the Potts partition function for a certain class of restricted instances of graphs that correspond to irreducible cyclic codes. We use the same approach to demonstrate that quantum computers can provide an exponential speed up over the best classical algorithms for the exact evaluation of the weight enumerator polynomial for a family of classical cyclic codes. In addition to this we also provide an efficient quantum approximation algorithm for a function (signed-Euler generating function) closely related to the Ising partition function and demonstrate that this problem is BQP-complete. We accomplish the above for the Potts partition function by using a series of links between Gauss sums, classical coding theory, graph theory and the partition function. We exploit the fact that there exists an efficient approximation algorithm for Gauss sums and the fact that this problem is equivalent in complexity to evaluating discrete log. A theorem of McEliece allows one to turn the Gauss sum approximation into an exact evaluation of the Potts partition function. Stripping the physics from this result leaves one with the result for the weight enumerator polynomial. The result for the approximation of the signed-Euler generating function was accomplished by fashioning a new mapping between quantum circuits and graphs. The mapping provided us with a way of relating the cycle structure of graphs with quantum circuits. Using a slight variant of this mapping, we present the final result of this thesis which presents a way of testing families of quantum circuits for their classical simulatability. We thus provide an efficient way of deciding whether a quantum circuit provides any additional computational power over classical computation and this is achieved by exploiting the fact that planar instances of the Ising partition function (with no external magnetic field) can be efficiently classically computed.

Recent advances in quantum computational science promise substantial improvements in the speed with which certain classes of problems can be computed. Various algorithms that utilize the distinctively non-classical characteristics of quantum mechanics have been formulated to take advantage of this promising new approach to computation. One such algorithm was formulated by David Deutsch and Richard Jozsa. By measuring the output of a quantum network that implements this algorithm, it is possible to determine with N 1 measurements certain global properties of a function f(x), where N is the number of network inputs. Classically, it may not be possible to determine these same properties without evaluating f(x) a number of times that rises exponentially as N increases. Hitherto, the potential power of this algorithm has been explored in the context of qubits, the quantum computational analogue of classical bits. However, just as one can conceive of classical computation in the context of non-binary logic, such as ternary or quaternary logic, so also can one conceive of corresponding higher-order quantum computational equivalents.<p>This thesis investigates the behaviour of the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm in the context of these higher-order quantum computational forms of logic and explores potential applications for this algorithm. An important conclusion reached is that, not only can the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithms known computational advantages be formulated in more general terms, but also a new algorithmic property is revealed with potential practical applications.