A family of discrete-time quantum walks (DTQWs) on the line with an exact discrete $\text{U}\left(N\right)$ gauge invariance is introduced. It is shown that the continuous limit of these DTQWs, when it exists, coincides with the dynamics of a Dirac fermion coupled to usual $\text{U}\left(N\right)$ gauge fields in two-dimensional spacetime. A discrete generalization of the usual $\text{U}\left(N\right)$ curvature is also constructed. An alternate interpretation of these results in terms of superimposed $\text{U}\left(1\right)$ Maxwell fields and $\text{SU}\left(N\right)$ gauge fields is discussed in the Appendix. Numerical simulations are also presented, which explore the convergence of the DTQWs towards their continuous limit and which also compare the DTQWs with classical (i.e., nonquantum) motions in classical $\text{SU}\left(2\right)$ fields. The results presented in this paper constitute a first step towards quantum simulations of generic Yang-Mills gauge theories through DTQWs.

• Received 6 May 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.94.012335