Decoherent quantum walks driven by a generic coin operation

We consider the effect of different unitary noise mechanisms on the evolution of a quantum walk (QW) on a linear chain with a generic coin operation: (i) bit-flip channel noise, restricted to the coin subspace of the QW and (ii) topological noise caused by randomly broken links in the linear chain. Similarities and differences in the respective decoherent dynamics of the walker as a function of the probability per unit time of a decoherent event taking place are discussed. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.