Hadamard transform

2m real numbers (or complex numbers, although the

Hadamard matrices themselves are purely real).

Not to be confused with Walsh matrix.

The Hadamard transform (also known as

The Hadamard transform can be regarded as being built

out of size-2 discrete Fourier transforms (DFTs), and is
in fact equivalent to a multidimensional DFT of size 2
2 2 2.[2] It decomposes an arbitrary input vector
into a superposition of Walsh functions.
The transform is named for the French mathematician
Jacques Hadamard, the German-American mathematician Hans Rademacher, and the American mathematician
Joseph L. Walsh.

1 Denition
The product of a Boolean function and a Walsh matrix is its
Walsh spectrum:[1]
(1,0,1,0,0,1,1,0) * H(8) = (4,2,0,2,0,2,0,2)

The Hadamard transform Hm is a 2m 2m matrix, the

Hadamard matrix (scaled by a normalization factor), that
transforms 2m real numbers xn into 2m real numbers Xk.
The Hadamard transform can be dened in two ways:
recursively, or by using the binary (base2) representation of the indices n and k.
Recursively, we dene the 1 1 Hadamard transform H 0
by the identity H 0 = 1, and then dene Hm for m > 0 by:

Hm

(
1 Hm1

=
2 Hm1

Hm1
Hm1

where the 1/2 is a normalization that is sometimes omitted.

Fast WalshHadamard transform

This is a faster way to calculate the Walsh spectrum of
(1,0,1,0,0,1,1,0).

For m > 1, we can also dene Hm by:

Hm = H1 Hm1
Thus, other than this normalization factor, the Hadamard
matrices are made up entirely of 1 and 1.
Equivalently, we can dene the Hadamard matrix by its
(k, n)-th entry by writing

The original function can be expressed by means of its Walsh

spectrum as an arithmetical polynomial.

k=

m1

ki 2i = km1 2m1 +km2 2m2 + +k1 2+k0

i=0

the WalshHadamard transform, Hadamard and

RademacherWalsh transform, Walsh transform,
or WalshFourier transform) is an example of a
m1

generalized class of Fourier transforms. It performs an n =

ni 2i = nm1 2m1 +nm2 2m2 + +n1 2+n0
orthogonal, symmetric, involutive, linear operation on
i=0
1

3 QUANTUM COMPUTING APPLICATIONS

where the kj and nj are the binary digits (0 or 1) of k and

n, respectively. Note that for the element in the top left
corner, we dene: k = n = 0 . In this case, we have:

3 Quantum computing applications

Further information: Quantum gate Hadamard gate

(Hm )k,n =

1
j kj nj
m (1)
22

In quantum information processing the Hadamard transformation, more often called Hadamard gate in this
This is exactly the multidimensional 2 2 2 2 DFT, context (cf. quantum gate), is a one-qubit rotation, mapnormalized to be unitary, if the inputs and outputs are ping the qubit-basis states |0 and |1 to two superposition
regarded as multidimensional arrays indexed by the nj and states with equal weight of the computational basis states
|0 and |1 . Usually the phases are chosen so that we
kj, respectively.
have
Some examples of the Hadamard matrices follow.

H0 = + 1
(
1
1
H1 =
2 1

H=
1
1

|0 + |1
|0 |1

0| +
1|
2
2

in Dirac notation. This corresponds to the transformation

matrix

(This H 1 is precisely the size-2 DFT. It can also be re(

garded as the Fourier transform on the two-element ad1 1

H
=
ditive group of Z/(2).)
1
2 1

1
1
1
1
1
H2 =
1
2 1
1 1

1
1
1 1

1
1

1
1
1
H3 = 3
1
22
1
1 1

1
1
1 1
1
(Hn )i,j = n (1)ij
22

1
1

1
1

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

in the |0, |1 basis.

1
1
1
1

1
1

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Many quantum algorithms use the Hadamard transform

as an initial step, since it maps n qubits initialized with |0
to a superposition of all 2n orthogonal states in the |0, |1
basis
with equal weight.
1
It is useful to note that computing the quantum Hadamard

transform
is simply the application of a Hadamard gate

1
qubit individually because of the tensor product
to each
1

structure
of the Hadamard transform. This simple result

1
the quantum Hadamard transform requires n opmeans
1
compared to the classical case of n log n operaerations,
1
tions.
1

3.1 Hadamard gate operations

where i j is the bitwise dot product of the binary repre- H(|1) = 1 |0 1 |1

2
2
sentations of the numbers i and j. For example, if n2 ,
then (Hn )3,2 = (1)32 = (1)(1,1)(1,0) = (1)1+0 = (1)1 =
1
1
1 , agreeing with the above (ignoring the overall con- H(|0) = |0 + |1
2
2
stant). Note that the rst row, rst column of the matrix
(
)
1
1
1
1
is denoted by (Hn )0,0 .
H |0 + |1 = (|0+|1)+ (|0|1) = |0
2
2
2
2
The rows of the Hadamard matrices are the Walsh func(
)
tions.
1
1
1
1
H |0 |1 = (|0+|1) (|0|1) = |1
2
2
2
2
One application of the Hadamard gate to either a 0 or 1
qubit will produce a quantum state that, if observed, will
2 Computational complexity
be a 0 or 1 with equal probability (as seen in the rst two
operations). This is exactly like ipping a fair coin in the
The Hadamard transform can be computed in n log n op- standard probabilistic model of computation. However,
erations (n = 2m ), using the fast Hadamard transform al- if the Hadamard gate is applied twice in succession (as
gorithm.
is eectively being done in the last two operations), then

3
the nal state is always the same as the initial state. This
would be like taking a fair coin that is showing heads,
ipping it twice, and it always
[ ]landing on heads after the
1
second ip. The ket |0 =
0
[ ]
0
and the ket |1 =
.
1

Other applications

The Hadamard transform is also used in data encryption, as well as many signal processing and data compression algorithms, such as JPEG XR and MPEG-4 AVC. In
video compression applications, it is usually used in the
form of the sum of absolute transformed dierences. It is
also a crucial part of Grovers algorithm and Shors algorithm in quantum computing. The Hadamard transform
is also applied in scientic methods such as NMR, mass
spectroscopy and crystallography

See also
Fast Walsh-Hadamard transform
Pseudo-Hadamard transform
Haar transform
Generalized Distributive Law

External links
Ritter, Terry (August 1996). Walsh-Hadamard
Transforms: A Literature Survey.
Akansu, A.N.; Poluri, R. (July 2007). WalshLike Nonlinear Phase Orthogonal Codes for Direct Sequence CDMA Communications (PDF).
IEEE Trans. on Signal Processing 55 (7): 38006.
doi:10.1109/TSP.2007.894229.
Pan, Jeng-shyang Data Encryption Method Using Discrete Fractional Hadamard Transformation
(May 28, 2009)
Beddard, Godfrey; Yorke, Briony A. (January 2011). Pump-probe Spectroscopy using
Hadamard Transforms (PDF).
Yorke, Briony A.; Beddard, Godfrey; Owen,
Robin L.; Pearson, Arwen R. (September
Time-resolved crystallography using
2014).
the Hadamard transform (HTML). Nature Methods. doi:10.1038/nmeth.3139.

7 References
[1] Compare Figure 1 in Townsend, W. J.; Thornton, M. A.
Walsh Spectrum Computations Using Cayley Graphs.
CiteSeerX: 10.1.1.74.8029.
[2] Kunz, H.O. (1979). On the Equivalence Between
One-Dimensional Discrete Walsh-Hadamard and
Multidimensional Discrete Fourier Transforms.
IEEE Transactions on Computers 28 (3): 2678.
doi:10.1109/TC.1979.1675334.

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