Nonlocality and entanglement in qubit systems

Nonlocality and quantum entanglement constitute two special aspects of the quantum correlations existing in quantum systems, which are of paramount importance in quantum-information theory. Traditionally, they have been regarded as identical (equivalent, in fact, for pure two qubit states, that is, {\it Gisin's Theorem}), yet they constitute different resources. Describing nonlocality by means of the violation of several Bell inequalities, we obtain by direct optimization those states of two qubits that maximally violate a Bell inequality, in terms of their degree of mixture as measured by either their participation ratio $R=1/Tr(\rho^2)$ or their maximum eigenvalue $\lambda_{max}$. This optimum value is obtained as well, which coincides with previous results. Comparison with entanglement is performed too. An example of an application is given in the XY model. In this novel approximation, we also concentrate on the nonlocality for linear combinations of pure states of two qubits, providing a closed form for their maximal nonlocality measure. The case of Bell diagonal mixed states of two qubits is also extensively studied. Special attention concerning the connection between nonlocality and entanglement for mixed states of two qubits is paid to the so called maximally entangled mixed states. Additional aspects for the case of two qubits are also described in detail. Since we deal with qubit systems, we will perform an analogous study for three qubits, employing similar tools. Relation between distillability and nonlocality is explored quantitatively for the whole space of states of three qubits. We finally extend our analysis to four qubit systems, where nonlocality for generalized Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states of arbitrary number of parties is computed.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figure

Entanglement Distribution and Entangling Power of Quantum Gates

Quantum gates, that play a fundamental role in quantum computation and other quantum information processes, are unitary evolution operators $\hat U$ that act on a composite system changing its entanglement. In the present contribution we study some aspects of these entanglement changes. By recourse of a Monte Carlo procedure, we compute the so called "entangling power" for several paradigmatic quantum gates and discuss results concerning the action of the CNOT gate. We pay special attention to the distribution of entanglement among the several parties involved

Maximally correlated multipartite quantum states

We investigate quantum states that posses both maximum entanglement and maximum discord between the pertinent parties. Since entanglement (discord) is defined only for bipartite (two qubit) systems, we shall introduce an appropriate sum over of all bi-partitions as the associated measure. The ensuing definition --not new for entanglement-- is thus extended here to quantum discord. Also, additional dimensions within the parties are considered ({\it qudits}). We also discuss nonlocality (in the form of maximum violation of a Bell inequality) for all multiqubit systems. The emergence of more nonlocal states than local ones, all of them possessing maximum entanglement, will be linked, surprisingly enough, to whether quantum mechanics is defined over the fields of real or complex numbers.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, 2 table

Maximally Entangled Mixed States and Conditional Entropies

The maximally entangled mixed states of Munro, James, White, and Kwiat [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 64} (2001) 030302] are shown to exhibit interesting features vis a vis conditional entropic measures. The same happens with the Ishizaka and Hiroshima states [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 62} 022310 (2000)], whose entanglement-degree can not be increased by acting on them with logic gates. Special types of entangled states that do not violate classical entropic inequalities are seen to exist in the space of two qubits. Special meaning can be assigned to the Munro {\it et al.} special participation ratio of 1.8

The statistics of the entanglement changes generated by the Hadamard-CNOT quantum circuit

We consider the change of entanglement of formation $\Delta E$ produced by the Hadamard-CNOT circuit on a general (pure or mixed) state $\rho$ describing a system of two qubits. We study numerically the probabilities of obtaining different values of $\Delta E$, assuming that the initial state is randomly distributed in the space of all states according to the product measure recently introduced by Zyczkowski {\it et al.} [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 58} (1998) 883].Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure

Correlated multipartite quantum states

We investigate quantum states that possess both maximum entanglement and maximum discord between the pertinent parties. Since entanglement (discord) is defined only for bipartite (two-qubit) systems, we use an appropriate sum over all bipartitions as the associated measure. The ensuing definition - not new for entanglement - is thus extended here to quantum discord. Also, additional dimensions within the parties are considered (qudits). We also discuss quantum correlations that induce Mermin's Bell-inequality violation for all multiqubit systems. One finds some differences when quantum mechanics is defined over the field of real or of complex numbers. © 2013 American Physical Society.Fil: Batle, J.. Universitat de Les Illes Balears; EspañaFil: Casas, M.. Universitat de Les Illes Balears; España. Universitat de Les Illes Balears;Fil: Plastino, Ángel Luis. Universitat de Les Illes Balears; España. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Física La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Física La Plata; Argentin

Some Features of the Conditional qq-Entropies of Composite Quantum Systems

The study of conditional $q$-entropies in composite quantum systems has recently been the focus of considerable interest, particularly in connection with the problem of separability. The $q$-entropies depend on the density matrix $\rho$ through the quantity $\omega_q = Tr\rho^q$, and admit as a particular instance the standard von Neumann entropy in the limit case $q\to 1$. A comprehensive numerical survey of the space of pure and mixed states of bipartite systems is here performed, in order to determine the volumes in state space occupied by those states exhibiting various special properties related to the signs of their conditional $q$-entropies and to their connections with other separability-related features, including the majorization condition. Different values of the entropic parameter $q$ are considered, as well as different values of the dimensions $N_1$ and $N_2$ of the Hilbert spaces associated with the constituting subsystems. Special emphasis is paid to the analysis of the monotonicity properties, both as a function of $q$ and as a function of $N_1$ and $N_2$, of the various entropic functionals considered.Comment: Submitted for publicatio

Entanglement and the Lower Bounds on the Speed of Quantum Evolution

The concept of quantum speed limit-time (QSL) was initially introduced as a lower bound to the time interval that a given initial state $\psi_I$ may need so as to evolve into a state orthogonal to itself. Recently [V. Giovannetti, S. Lloyd, and L. Maccone, Phys. Rev. A {\bf 67}, 052109 (2003)] this bound has been generalized to the case where $\psi_I$ does not necessarily evolve into an orthogonal state, but into any other $\psi_F$. It was pointed out that, for certain classes of states, quantum entanglement enhances the evolution "speed" of composite quantum systems. In this work we provide an exhaustive and systematic QSL study for pure and mixed states belonging to the whole 15-dimensional space of two qubits, with $\psi_F$ a not necessarily orthogonal state to $\psi_I$. We display convincing evidence for a clear correlation between concurrence, on the one hand, and the speed of quantum evolution determined by the action of a rather general local Hamiltonian, on the other one.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figure