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arXiv:0811.4527 · Physical Review A

Representation of entanglement by negative quasiprobabilities

Jan Sperling, W. Vogel

Published Apr 28, 2009• 46 citations
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Abstract

Any bipartite quantum state has quasiprobability representations in terms of separable states. For entangled states these quasiprobabilities necessarily exhibit negativities. Based on the general structure of composite quantum states, one may reconstruct such quasiprobabilities from experimental data. Because of ambiguity, the quasiprobabilities obtained by the bare reconstruction are insufficient to identify entanglement. An optimization procedure is introduced to derive quasiprobabilities with a minimal amount of negativity. Negativities of optimized quasiprobabilities are necessary and sufficient for entanglement; their positivity proves separability.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.79.042337

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Any bipartite quantum state has quasiprobability representations in terms of separable states. For entangled states these quasiprobabilities necessarily exhibit negativities. Based on the general structure of composite quantum states, one may reconstruct such quasiprobabilities from experimental data. Because of ambiguity, the quasiprobabilities obtained by the bare reconstruction are insufficient to identify entanglement. An optimization procedure is introduced to derive quasiprobabilities with a minimal amount of negativity. Negativities of optimized quasiprobabilities are necessary and sufficient for entanglement; their positivity proves separability.
We report on the first experimental reconstruction of an entanglement quasiprobability. In contrast to related techniques, the negativities in our distributions are a necessary and sufficient identifier of separability and entanglement and enable a full characterization of the quantum state. A reconstruction algorithm is developed, a polarization Bell state is prepared, and its entanglement is certified based on the reconstructed entanglement quasiprobabilities, with a high significance and without correcting for imperfections.
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Quasiprobability representations, such as the Wigner function, play an important role in various research areas. The inevitable appearance of negativity in such representations is often regarded as a signature of nonclassicality, which has profound implications for quantum computation. However, little is known about the minimal negativity that is necessary in general quasiprobability representations. Here we focus on a natural class of quasiprobability representations that is distinguished by simplicity and economy. We introduce three measures of negativity concerning the representations of quantum states, unitary transformations, and quantum channels, respectively. Quite surprisingly, all three measures lead to the same representations with minimal negativity, which are in one-to-one correspondence with the elusive symmetric informationally complete measurements. In addition, most representations with minimal negativity are automatically covariant with respect to the Heisenberg-Weyl groups. Furthermore, our study reveals an interesting tradeoff between negativity and symmetry in quasiprobability representations.
We introduce a general method for the construction of quasiprobability representations for arbitrary notions of quantum coherence. Our technique yields a non-negative probability distribution for the decomposition of any classical state. Conversely, quantum phenomena are certified in terms of signed distributions, i.e., quasiprobabilities, and a residual component unaccessible via classical states. Our unifying method combines well-established concepts, such as phase-space distributions in quantum optics, with resources of quantumness relevant for quantum technologies. We apply our approach to analyze various forms of quantum coherence in different physical systems. Moreover, our framework renders it possible to uncover complex quantum correlations between systems, for example, via quasiprobability representations of multipartite entanglement.
The quasiprobability representation of quantum states addresses two main concerns, the identification of nonclassical features and the decomposition of the density operator. While the former aspect is a main focus of current research, the latter decomposition property has been studied less frequently. In this contribution, we introduce a method for the generalized expansion of quantum states in terms of so-called quasistates. In contrast to the quasiprobability decomposition through nonclassical distributions and pure-state operators, our technique results in classical probabilities and nonpositive semidefinite operators, defining the notion of quasistates, that carry the information about the nonclassical characteristics of the system. Therefore, our method presents a complementary approach to prominent quasiprobability representations. We explore the usefulness of our technique with several examples, including applications for quantum state reconstruction and the representation of nonclassical light. In addition, using our framework, we also demonstrate that inseparable quantum correlations can be described in terms of classical joint probabilities and tensor-product quasistates for an unambiguous identification of quantum entanglement.