Combinatorial laplacians and positivity under partial transpose

Density matrices of graphs are combinatorial laplacians normalized to have trace one (Braunstein \emph{et al.} \emph{Phys. Rev. A,} \textbf{73}:1, 012320 (2006)). If the vertices of a graph are arranged as an array, then its density matrix carries a block structure with respect to which properties such as separability can be considered. We prove that the so-called degree-criterion, which was conjectured to be necessary and sufficient for separability of density matrices of graphs, is equivalent to the PPT-criterion. As such it is not sufficient for testing the separability of density matrices of graphs (we provide an explicit example). Nonetheless, we prove the sufficiency when one of the array dimensions has length two (for an alternative proof see Wu, \emph{Phys. Lett. A}\textbf{351} (2006), no. 1-2, 18--22). Finally we derive a rational upper bound on the concurrence of density matrices of graphs and show that this bound is exact for graphs on four vertices.Comment: 19 pages, 7 eps figures, final version accepted for publication in Math. Struct. in Comp. Sc

The laplacian of a graph as a density matrix: a basic combinatorial approach to separability of mixed states

We study entanglement properties of mixed density matrices obtained from combinatorial Laplacians. This is done by introducing the notion of the density matrix of a graph. We characterize the graphs with pure density matrices and show that the density matrix of a graph can be always written as a uniform mixture of pure density matrices of graphs. We consider the von Neumann entropy of these matrices and we characterize the graphs for which the minimum and maximum values are attained. We then discuss the problem of separability by pointing out that separability of density matrices of graphs does not always depend on the labelling of the vertices. We consider graphs with a tensor product structure and simple cases for which combinatorial properties are linked to the entanglement of the state. We calculate the concurrence of all graph on four vertices representing entangled states. It turns out that for some of these graphs the value of the concurrence is exactly fractional.Comment: 20 pages, 11 figure

On the separability of graphs

Recently, Cicalese and Milanič introduced a graph-theoretic concept called separability. A graph is said to be k-separable if any two non-adjacent vertices can be separated by the removal of at most k vertices. The separability of a graph G is the least k for which G is k-separable. In this paper, we investigate this concept under the following three aspects. First, we characterize the graphs for which in any non-complete connected induced subgraph the connectivity equals the separability, so-called separability-perfect graphs. We list the minimal forbidden induced subgraphs of this condition and derive a complete description of the separability-perfect graphs.We then turn our attention to graphs for which the separability is given locally by the maximum intersection of the neighborhoods of any two non-adjacent vertices. We prove that all (house,hole)-free graphs fulfill this property – a class properly including the chordal graphs and the distance-hereditary graphs. We conclude that the separability can be computed in O(m∆) time for such graphs.In the last part we introduce the concept of edge-separability, in analogy to edge-connectivity, and prove that the class of k-edge-separable graphs is closed under topological minors for any k. We explicitly give the forbidden topological minors of the k-edge-separable graphs for each 0 ≤ k ≤ 3

On the separability of graphs

Recently, Cicalese and Milanič introduced a graph-theoretic concept called separability. A graph is said to be k-separable if any two non-adjacent vertices can be separated by the removal of at most k vertices. The separability of a graph G is the least k for which G is k-separable. In this paper, we investigate this concept under the following three aspects. First, we characterize the graphs for which in any non-complete connected induced subgraph the connectivity equals the separability, so-called separability-perfect graphs. We list the minimal forbidden induced subgraphs of this condition and derive a complete description of the separability-perfect graphs.We then turn our attention to graphs for which the separability is given locally by the maximum intersection of the neighborhoods of any two non-adjacent vertices. We prove that all (house,hole)-free graphs fulfill this property ? a class properly including the chordal graphs and the distance-hereditary graphs. We conclude that the separability can be computed in O(m?) time for such graphs.In the last part we introduce the concept of edge-separability, in analogy to edge-connectivity, and prove that the class of k-edge-separable graphs is closed under topological minors for any k. We explicitly give the forbidden topological minors of the k-edge-separable graphs for each 0 ≤ k ≤ 3

Arboreal Bound Entanglement

In this paper, we discuss the entanglement properties of graph-diagonal states, with particular emphasis on calculating the threshold for the transition between the presence and absence of entanglement (i.e. the separability point). Special consideration is made of the thermal states of trees, including the linear cluster state. We characterise the type of entanglement present, and describe the optimal entanglement witnesses and their implementation on a quantum computer, up to an additive approximation. In the case of general graphs, we invoke a relation with the partition function of the classical Ising model, thereby intimating a connection to computational complexity theoretic tasks. Finally, we show that the entanglement is robust to some classes of local perturbations.Comment: 9 pages + appendices, 3 figure

On graphs whose Laplacian matrix's multipartite separability is invariant under graph isomorphism

Normalized Laplacian matrices of graphs have recently been studied in the context of quantum mechanics as density matrices of quantum systems. Of particular interest is the relationship between quantum physical properties of the density matrix and the graph theoretical properties of the underlying graph. One important aspect of density matrices is their entanglement properties, which are responsible for many nonintuitive physical phenomena. The entanglement property of normalized Laplacian matrices is in general not invariant under graph isomorphism. In recent papers, graphs were identified whose entanglement and separability properties are invariant under isomorphism. The purpose of this note is to characterize the set of graphs whose separability is invariant under graph isomorphism. In particular, we show that this set consists of $K_{2,2}$, $\overline{K_{2,2}}$ and all complete graphs.Comment: 5 page