We consider the problem of determining whether genuine multipartite entanglement was produced in an experiment, without relying on a characterization of the systems observed or of the measurements performed. We present an n-partite inequality that is satisfied by all correlations produced by measurements on biseparable quantum states, but which can be violated by n-partite entangled states, such as Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states. In contrast to traditional entanglement witnesses, the violation of this inequality implies that the state is not biseparable independently of the Hilbert space dimension and of the measured operators. Violation of this inequality does not imply, however, genuine multipartite nonlocality. We show more generically how the problem of identifying genuine tripartite entanglement in a device-independent way can be addressed through semidefinite programming.
We consider the problem of determining whether genuine multipartite entanglement was produced in an experiment, without relying on a characterization of the systems observed or of the measurements performed. We present an n-partite inequality that is satisfied by all correlations produced by measurements on biseparable quantum states, but which can be violated by n-partite entangled states, such as Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states. In contrast to traditional entanglement witnesses, the violation of this inequality implies that the state is not biseparable independently of the Hilbert space dimension and of the measured operators. Violation of this inequality does not imply, however, genuine multipartite nonlocality. We show more generically how the problem of identifying genuine tripartite entanglement in a device-independent way can be addressed through semidefinite programming.
Genuine multipartite entanglement represents the strongest type of entanglement, which is an essential resource for quantum information processing. Standard methods to detect genuine multipartite entanglement, e.g., entanglement witnesses, state tomography, or quantum state verification, require full knowledge of the Hilbert space dimension and precise calibration of measurement devices, which are usually difficult to acquire in an experiment. The most radical way to overcome these problems is to detect entanglement solely based on the Bell-like correlations of measurement outcomes collected in the experiment, namely, device independently. However, it is difficult to certify genuine entanglement of practical multipartite states in this way, and even more difficult to quantify it, due to the difficulty in identifying optimal multipartite Bell inequalities and protocols tolerant to state impurity. In this Letter, we explore a general and robust device-independent method that can be applied to various realistic multipartite quantum states in arbitrary finite dimension, while merely relying on bipartite Bell inequalities. Our method allows us both to certify the presence of genuine multipartite entanglement and to quantify it. Several important classes of entangled states are tested with this method, leading to the detection of genuinely entangled states. We also certify genuine multipartite entanglement in weakly entangled Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states, showing that the method applies equally well to less standard states.
In a recent paper, Bancal et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 250404 (2011)] put forward the concept of device-independent witnesses of genuine multipartite entanglement. These witnesses are capable of verifying genuine multipartite entanglement produced in a laboratory without resorting to any knowledge of the dimension of the state space or of the specific form of the measurement operators. As a by-product they found a multiparty three-setting Bell inequality which makes it possible to detect genuine n-partite entanglement in a noisy n-qubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) state for visibilities as low as 2/3 in a device-independent way. In this paper, we generalize this inequality to an arbitrary number of settings, demonstrating a threshold visibility of $2/\ensuremath{\pi}~0.6366$ for number of settings going to infinity. We also present a pseudotelepathy Bell inequality achieving the same threshold value. We argue that our device-independent witnesses are optimal in the sense that for n odd the above value cannot be beaten with n-party-correlation Bell inequalities.
We consider the problem of demonstrating non-Bell-local correlations by performing local measurements in randomly chosen triads, i.e., three mutually unbiased bases, on a multipartite Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state. Our main interest lies in investigating the feasibility of using these correlations to certify multipartite entanglement in a device-independent setting. In contrast with previous works, our numerical results up to the eight-partite scenario suggest that if each triad is randomly but uniformly chosen according to the Haar measure, one always (except possibly for a set of measure zero) finds Bell-inequality-violating correlations. In fact, a substantial fraction of these is even sufficient to reveal, in a device-independent manner, various higher-order entanglement. In particular, for the specific cases of three parties and four parties, our results---obtained from semidefinite programming---suggest that these randomly generated correlations always reveal, even in the presence of a non-negligible amount of white noise, the genuine multipartite entanglement possessed by these states. In other words, provided local calibration can be carried out to good precision, a device-independent certification of the genuine multipartite entanglement contained in these states can, in principle, also be carried out in an experimental situation without sharing a global reference frame.
Experimental demonstration of entanglement needs to have a precise control of experimentalist over the system on which the measurements are performed as prescribed by an appropriate entanglement witness. To avoid such trust problem, recently device-independent entanglement witnesses (\emph{DIEW}s) for genuine tripartite entanglement have been proposed where witnesses are capable of testing genuine entanglement without precise description of Hilbert space dimension and measured operators i.e apparatus are treated as black boxes. Here we design a protocol for enhancing the possibility of identifying genuine tripartite entanglement in a device independent manner. We consider three mixed tripartite quantum states none of whose genuine entanglement can be detected by applying standard \emph{DIEW}s, but their genuine tripartite entanglement can be detected by applying the same when distributed in some suitable entanglement swapping network.
We show that the rich structure of multipartite entanglement can be tested following a device-independent approach. Specifically we present Bell inequalities for distinguishing between different types of multipartite entanglement, without placing any assumptions on the measurement devices used in the protocol, in contrast with usual entanglement witnesses. We first address the case of three qubits and present Bell inequalities that can be violated by W states but not by Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states, and vice versa. Next, we devise 'subcorrelation Bell inequalities' for any number of parties, which can provably not be violated by a broad class of multipartite entangled states (generalizations of Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states), but for which violations can be obtained for W states. Our results give insight into the nonlocality of W states. The simplicity and robustness of our tests make them appealing for experiments.
We consider the problem of determining the presence of genuine tripartite entanglement through the violation of Mermin inequality. Although the violation of Mermin inequality cannot certify the presence of genuine nonlocality, it can certify the presence of genuine tripartite entanglement whenever the violation is strictly greater than 22. Here we show that Mermin inequality suffices as a genuine entanglement witness even when its value is 22 if at least two of the local marginal distributions are not completely random, provided the local Hilbert space dimension of at least one of the subsystems is 2. Thus local marginals suffice as a semi-device-independent genuine entanglement witness. This is intriguing in a sense, as the local properties of a composite system can help to identify its global property. Furthermore, analyzing another quantity constructed from Mermin polynomials, we show that the genuine entanglement certification task for the correlations with Mermin inequality violation equal to 22 can actually be made fully device independent.