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In this work, the application of continuous time quantum walks (CTQW) to the Maximum Clique (MC) problem was studied. Performing CTQW on graphs can generate distinct periodic probability amplitudes for different vertices. We found that the intensities of the probability amplitudes at some frequencies imply the clique structure of special kinds of graphs. Recursive algorithms with time complexity $O(N^6)$ in classical computers were proposed to determine the maximum clique. We have experimented on random graphs where each edge exists with different probabilities. Although counter examples were not found for random graphs, whether these algorithms are universal is beyond the scope of this work.

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The continuous-time quantum walk (CTQW) provides a new approach to problems in graph theory. In this paper, the correlation between the CTQW and cliques in graphs is studied, and an approximate algorithm for the maximum clique problem (MCP) based on the CTQW is given. Via both numerical and theoretical analyses, it is found that the maximum clique is related to the transmission characteristics of the CTQW on some special graphs. For general graphs, the correlation is difficult to describe analytically. Therefore, the transmission characteristics of the CTQW are applied as a vertex selection criterion to a classical MCP algorithm and it is compared with the original algorithm. Numerous simulation on general graphs shows that the new algorithm is more efficient. Furthermore, an approximate MCP algorithm based on the CTQW is introduced, which only requires a very small number of searches with a high approximation ratio.