LAUSR

Quantum image processing has become a significant aspect within the field of quantum information processing because the image is an essential carrier of information, and quantum computation has powerful image processing ability. Image scrambling algorithms are often required as initial image operations in quantum image processing applications such as quantum image encryption and watermarking. However, the efficiency of existing quantum image scrambling algorithms needs to be improved urgently, especially in terms of periodicity. Therefore, a novel quantum image scrambling algorithm based on discrete Baker map is proposed in this paper, which can be implemented by swapping qubits with low circuit complexity. The quantum version of discrete Baker map is deduced and the corresponding quantum circuit is designed. The simulation results show that the scrambling algorithm has the characteristic of long period, which can further enhance the security of quantum image encryption algorithms. Besides, for generalized discrete Baker maps, the conditions that they can be implemented by swapping qubits are given. Moreover, the number of discrete Baker maps satisfying the conditions is also calculated.