An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A generalization of the classical concept of → random walk using quantum mechanical laws such as the → superposition principle and → interference of quantum amplitudes. In the classical version the particle moves in the position space with a certain probability. In contrast, in the quantum counterpart the particle moves by exploring multiple possible paths simultaneously with the amplitudes corresponding to the influence of different paths.
The concept of quantum walk is studied in two standard forms: → continuous-time quantum walk and → discrete-time quantum walk. Quantum walk was first introduced by Aharonov et al.
(1993, Phys. Rev. A, 48, 1687).

See also: → continuous; → walk.