text: We establish a thorough treatment of reduced-state synchronization for qubit networks with the aim of driving the qubits’ reduced states to a common trajectory. The evolution of the quantum network’s state is described by a master equation, where the network Hamiltonian is either a direct sum or a tensor product of identical qubit Hamiltonians, and the coupling terms are given by a set of permutation operators over the network. The permutations introduce naturally quantum directed interactions. We show that reduced-state synchronization is achieved if and only if the quantum interaction graphs corresponding to the permutation operators form a strongly connected union graph. The proof is based on an algebraic analysis making use of the Perron-Frobenius theorem for non-negative matrices. The convergence rate and the limiting orbit are explicitly characterized. Numerical examples are provided illustrating the obtained results. Further, we investigate the missing symmetry in the reduced-state synchronization from a graphical point of view. The information-flow hierarchy in quantum permutation operators is characterized by different layers of information-induced graphs. We show that the quantum synchronization equation is by nature equivalent to several parallel cut-balanced consensus processes, and a necessary and sufficient condition is obtained for quantum reduced-state synchronization under switching interactions applying recent work of Hendrickx and Tsitsiklis.
  @cite_33: We introduce and characterize two different measures which quantify the level of synchronization of coupled continuous variable quantum systems. The two measures allow us to extend to the quantum domain the notions of complete and phase synchronization. The Heisenberg principle sets a universal bound to complete synchronization. The measure of phase synchronization is, in principle, unbounded; however, in the absence of quantum resources (e.g., squeezing) the synchronization level is bounded below a certain threshold. We elucidate some interesting connections between entanglement and synchronization and, finally, discuss an application based on quantum optomechanical systems.
  @cite_9: Motivated by applications to sensor, peer-to-peer, and ad hoc networks, we study distributed algorithms, also known as gossip algorithms, for exchanging information and for computing in an arbitrarily connected network of nodes. The topology of such networks changes continuously as new nodes join and old nodes leave the network. Algorithms for such networks need to be robust against changes in topology. Additionally, nodes in sensor networks operate under limited computational, communication, and energy resources. These constraints have motivated the design of "gossip" algorithms: schemes which distribute the computational burden and in which a node communicates with a randomly chosen neighbor. We analyze the averaging problem under the gossip constraint for an arbitrary network graph, and find that the averaging time of a gossip algorithm depends on the second largest eigenvalue of a doubly stochastic matrix characterizing the algorithm. Designing the fastest gossip algorithm corresponds to minimizing this eigenvalue, which is a semidefinite program (SDP). In general, SDPs cannot be solved in a distributed fashion; however, exploiting problem structure, we propose a distributed subgradient method that solves the optimization problem over the network. The relation of averaging time to the second largest eigenvalue naturally relates it to the mixing time of a random walk with transition probabilities derived from the gossip algorithm. We use this connection to study the performance and scaling of gossip algorithms on two popular networks: Wireless Sensor Networks, which are modeled as Geometric Random Graphs, and the Internet graph under the so-called Preferential Connectivity (PC) model.
  @cite_21: This paper extends the consensus framework, widely studied in the literature on distributed computing and control algorithms, to networks of quantum systems. We define consensus situations on the basis of invariance and symmetry properties, finding four different generalizations of classical consensus states. This new viewpoint can be directly used to study consensus for probability distributions, as these can be seen as a particular case of quantum statistical states: in this light, our analysis is also relevant for classical problems. We then extend the gossip consensus algorithm to the quantum setting and prove it converges to symmetric states while preserving the expectation of permutation-invariant global observables. Applications of the framework and the algorithms to estimation and control problems on quantum networks are discussed.
  @cite_3: This paper interprets and generalizes consensus-type algorithms as switching dynamics leading to symmetrization with respect to the actions of a finite group. Explicit convergence results are provided in a grouptheoretic formulation, both for deterministic and for stochastic dynamics. We show how the symmetrization framework directly extends the scope of consensustype algorithms and results to applications as diverse as consensus on probability distributions (either classical or quantum), computation of the discrete Fourier transform, uniform random state generation, and openloop disturbance rejection by quantum dynamical decoupling. This indicates a way to extend the desirable robustness of consensus-inspired algorithms to even more fields of application.
  @cite_5: Convergence analysis of consensus algorithms is revisited in the light of the Hilbert distance. The Lyapunov function used in the early analysis by Tsitsiklis is shown to be the Hilbert distance to consensus in log coordinates. Birkhoff theorem, which proves contraction of the Hilbert metric for any positive homogeneous monotone map, provides an early yet general convergence result for consensus algorithms. Because Birkhoff theorem holds in arbitrary cones, we extend consensus algorithms to the cone of positive definite matrices. The proposed generalization finds applications in the convergence analysis of quantum stochastic maps, which are a generalization of stochastic maps to non-commutative probability spaces.
summary: Scientific interest on consensus and synchronization subject to the laws of quantum mechanics has also been noticed. Recent work @cite_33 introduced the measures of synchronization in quantum systems of coupled Harmonic oscillators. Sepulchre @cite_5 generalized consensus algorithms to non-commutative spaces and presented convergence results for quantum stochastic maps to a fully mixed state. Mazzarella @cite_21 made a systematic study of consensus-seeking in quantum networks, where four classes of consensus quantum states based on invariance and symmetry properties were introduced and a quantum gossip algorithm @cite_9 was proposed for reaching a symmetric consensus state over a quantum network. The class of quantum gossip algorithms was extended to symmetrization problems in a group-theoretic framework in @cite_3 .