Local unitary quantum cellular automata

In this paper we present a quantization of cellular automata. Our formalism is based on a lattice of qudits and an update rule consisting of local unitary operators that commute with their own lattice translations. One purpose of this model is to act as a theoretical model of quantum computation, similar to the quantum circuit model. It is also shown to be an appropriate abstraction for space-homogeneous quantum phenomena, such as quantum lattice gases, spin chains, and others. Some results that show the benefits of basing the model on local unitary operators are shown: universality, strong connections to the circuit model, simple implementation on quantum hardware, and a wealth of applications.