Orientation-dependent Pauli noise in one-dimensional discrete-time quantum walks

Abstract

Discrete-time quantum walks exhibit ballistic spreading that is highly sensitive to decoherence. We study the long-time dynamics of a one-dimensional discrete-time quantum walk under Pauli noise acting on the coin. Choosing the unitary coin such that its invariant Bloch-sphere axis is orthogonal to the axis fixed by the conditional shift, we identify the distinct effects of noise aligned with either dynamical axis or orthogonal to both. Using a Fourier-space Pauli-superoperator formalism, we derive expressions for the first two position moments and long-time asymptotics for X-, Y-, Z-, and depolarizing noise. All channels induce a crossover from ballistic to diffusive spreading, with a second moment growing linearly at long times. The approach to this regime is channel dependent: it is exponentially fast for X-, Z-, and depolarizing noise, but algebraic, with a leading $t^{-1/2}$ correction, for Y-noise. The position distributions retain distinct finite-noise signatures, including a Gaussian-like profile with a central depression for Y-noise. In the maximal-noise limit, depolarizing, Y-, and Z-noise yield the classical binomial distribution for arbitrary initial coin states, whereas X-noise does so only when the initial state has no component along the noise axis. Thus, the quantum-to-classical transition is governed by the relative alignment of the noise, the coherent walk dynamics, and the initial state.