Entanglement universality of two-qubit X-states

We demonstrate that for every two-qubit state there is a X-counterpart, i.e., a corresponding two-qubit X-state of same spectrum and entanglement, as measured by concurrence, negativity or relative entropy of entanglement. By parametrizing the set of two-qubit X-states and a family of unitary transformations that preserve the sparse structure of a two-qubit X-state density matrix, we obtain the parametric form of a unitary transformation that converts arbitrary two-qubit states into their X-counterparts. Moreover, we provide a semi-analytic prescription on how to set the parameters of this unitary transformation in order to preserve concurrence or negativity. We also explicitly construct a set of X-state density matrices, parametrized by their purity and concurrence, whose elements are in one-to-one correspondence with the points of the concurrence versus purity (CP) diagram for generic two-qubit states.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figures. v2 includes new references and minor changes (accepted version

Heuristic for estimation of multiqubit genuine multipartite entanglement

For every N-qubit density matrix written in the computational basis, an associated "X-density matrix" can be obtained by vanishing all entries out of the main- and anti-diagonals. It is very simple to compute the genuine multipartite (GM) concurrence of this associated N-qubit X-state, which, moreover, lower bounds the GM-concurrence of the original (non-X) state. In this paper, we rely on these facts to introduce and benchmark a heuristic for estimating the GM-concurrence of an arbitrary multiqubit mixed state. By explicitly considering two classes of mixed states, we illustrate that our estimates are usually very close to the standard lower bound on the GM-concurrence, being significantly easier to compute. In addition, while evaluating the performance of our proposed heuristic, we provide the first characterization of GM-entanglement in the steady states of the driven Dicke model at zero temperature.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figure

Generalized squeezing operators, bipartite Wigner functions and entanglement via Wehrl's entropy functionals

We introduce a new class of unitary transformations based on the su(1,1) Lie algebra that generalizes, for certain particular representations of its generators, well-known squeezing transformations in quantum optics. To illustrate our results, we focus on the two-mode bosonic representation and show how the parametric amplifier model can be modified in order to generate such a generalized squeezing operator. Furthermore, we obtain a general expression for the bipartite Wigner function which allows us to identify two distinct sources of entanglement, here labelled by dynamical and kinematical entanglement. We also establish a quantitative estimate of entanglement for bipartite systems through some basic definitions of entropy functionals in continuous phase-space representations.Comment: 16 page

Quasiprobability distribution functions for periodic phase-spaces: I. Theoretical Aspects

An approach featuring $s$-parametrized quasiprobability distribution functions is developed for situations where a circular topology is observed. For such an approach, a suitable set of angle-angular momentum coherent states must be constructed in appropriate fashion.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figure

Sqeezing generated by a nonlinear master equation and by amplifying-dissipative Hamiltonians

In the first part of this contribution we show that the master equation derived from the generalized version of the nonlinear Doebner-Goldin equation leads to the squeezing of one of the quadratures. In the second part we consider two familiar Hamiltonians, the Bateman- Caldirola-Kanai and the optical parametric oscillator; going back to their classical Lagrangian form we introduce a stochastic force and a dissipative factor. From this new Lagrangian we obtain a modified Hamiltonian that treats adequately the simultaneous amplification and dissipation phenomena, presenting squeezing, too

Using continuous measurement to protect a universal set of quantum gates within a perturbed decoherence-free subspace

We consider a universal set of quantum gates encoded within a perturbed decoherence-free subspace of four physical qubits. Using second-order perturbation theory and a measuring device modeled by an infinite set of harmonic oscillators, simply coupled to the system, we show that continuous observation of the coupling agent induces inhibition of the decoherence due to spurious perturbations. We thus advance the idea of protecting or even creating a decoherence-free subspace for processing quantum information.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure. To be published in Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Genera