© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

Terms Privacy Legal Notice

arXiv:1108.3649 · Quantum Information and Computation

Criteria for measures of quantum correlations

Aharon Brodutch, Kavan Kishore Modi

Published Sep 1, 2012• 55 citations

Abstract

Entanglement does not describe all quantum correlations and several authors have shown the need to go beyond entanglement when dealing with mixed states. Various different measures have sprung up in the literature, for a variety of reasons, to describe bipartite and multipartite quantum correlations; some are known under the collective name {\it quantum discord}. Yet, in the same sprit as the criteria for entanglement measures, there is no general mechanism that determines whether a measure of quantum and classical correlations is a proper measure of correlations. This is partially due to the fact that the answer is a bit muddy. In this article we attempt tackle this muddy topic by writing down several criteria for a ``good" measure of correlations. We breakup our list into \emph{necessary}, \emph{reasonable}, and \emph{debatable} conditions. We then proceed to prove several of these conditions for generalized measures of quantum correlations. However, not all conditions are met by all measures; we show this via several examples. The reasonable conditions are related to continuity of correlations, which has not been previously discussed. Continuity is an important quality if one wants to probe quantum correlations in the laboratory. We show that most types of quantum discord are continuous but none are continuous with respect to the measurement basis used for optimization.

DOI: 10.26421/qic12.9-10-1

Related papers

Are General Quantum Correlations Monogamous?

Alexander Streltsov, Gerardo Adesso, Marco Piani +1 more

Quantum entanglement and quantum nonlocality are known to exhibit monogamy; that is, they obey strong constraints on how they can be distributed among multipartite systems. Quantum correlations that comprise and go beyond entanglement are quantified by, e.g., quantum discord. It was observed recently that for some states quantum discord is not monogamous. We prove, in general, that any measure of correlations that is monogamous for all states and satisfies reasonable basic properties must vanish for all separable states: only entanglement measures can be strictly monogamous. Monogamy of other than entanglement measures can still be satisfied for special, restricted cases: we prove that the geometric measure of discord satisfies the monogamy inequality on all pure states of three qubits.

arXiv:1112.3967•Physical Review Letters•Aug 1, 2012•171 citations

THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL ASPECTS OF QUANTUM DISCORD AND RELATED MEASURES

Lucas C. Céleri, Jonas Maziero, ROBERTO M. SERRA

Correlations are a very important tool in the study of multipartite systems, for both classical and quantum ones. The discussion about the quantum nature of correlations permeates Physics since Einstein, Podolski and Rosen published their famous article criticizing quantum mechanics. Here, we provide a short review about the quantum nature of correlations, discussing both its theoretical and experimental aspects. We focus on quantum discord and related measures. After discussing their fundamental aspects (theoretically and experimentally), we proceed by analysing the dynamical behavior of correlations under decoherence as well as some applications in different scenarios, such as quantum computation and relativity, passing through critical and biological systems.

arXiv:1107.3428•International Journal of Quantum Information•Oct 1, 2011•120 citations

The classical-quantum boundary for correlations: Discord and related measures

Kavan Kishore Modi, Aharon Brodutch, Hugo V. Cable +2 more

One of the best signatures of nonclassicality in a quantum system is the existence of correlations that have no classical counterpart. Different methods for quantifying the quantum and classical parts of correlations are among the more actively studied topics of quantum-information theory over the past decade. Entanglement is the most prominent of these correlations, but in many cases unentangled states exhibit nonclassical behavior too. Thus distinguishing quantum correlations other than entanglement provides a better division between the quantum and classical worlds, especially when considering mixed states. Here different notions of classical and quantum correlations quantified by quantum discord and other related measures are reviewed. In the first half, the mathematical properties of the measures of quantum correlations are reviewed, related to each other, and the classical-quantum division that is common among them is discussed. In the second half, it is shown that the measures identify and quantify the deviation from classicality in various quantum-information-processing tasks, quantum thermodynamics, open-system dynamics, and many-body physics. It is shown that in many cases quantum correlations indicate an advantage of quantum methods over classical ones.

arXiv:1112.6238•Reviews of Modern Physics•Nov 26, 2012•1,599 citations

Quantum correlations and distinguishability of quantum states

Dominique Spehner

A survey of various concepts in quantum information is given, with a main emphasis on the distinguishability of quantum states and quantum correlations. Covered topics include generalized and least square measurements, state discrimination, quantum relative entropies, the Bures distance on the set of quantum states, the quantum Fisher information, the quantum Chernoff bound, bipartite entanglement, the quantum discord, and geometrical measures of quantum correlations. The article is intended both for physicists interested not only by collections of results but also by the mathematical methods justifying them, and for mathematicians looking for an up-to-date introductory course on these subjects, which are mainly developed in the physics literature.

arXiv:1407.3739•Journal of Mathematical Physics•Jul 1, 2014•71 citations

Quantum discord for two-qubit X states

Mazhar Ali, A. R. P. Rau, G. Alber

Quantum discord, a kind of quantum correlation, is defined as the difference between quantum mutual information and classical correlation in a bipartite system. In general, this correlation is different from entanglement, and quantum discord may be nonzero even for certain separable states. Even in the simple case of bipartite quantum systems, this different kind of quantum correlation has interesting and significant applications in quantum information processing. So far, quantum discord has been calculated explicitly only for a rather limited set of two-qubit quantum states and expressions for more general quantum states are not known. In this article, we derive explicit expressions for quantum discord for a larger class of two-qubit states, namely, a seven-parameter family of so called $X$ states that have been of interest in a variety of contexts in the field. We also study the relation between quantum discord, classical correlation, and entanglement for a number of two-qubit states to demonstrate that they are independent measures of correlation with no simple relative ordering between them.

arXiv:1002.3429•Physical Review A•Apr 12, 2010•835 citations

Quantum correlation on the correlation directions measurements

Zhengjun Xi, Hongxuan Lei, Yongming Li

We discuss the upper bound of quantum discord, and derive a necessary condition for the reachable entropy quantum correlated states. We analyze the optimal measurements to access classical correlation in arbitrary two-qubit system. Then, we define the minimum quantum discord on the correlation direction, and demonstrate that it could be a good approximation of quantum discord. Finally, we study the dynamics of quantum correlation, which exhibits a sudden change under the decayed process, then we give a reasonable interpretation for this phenomenon with respects to the minimum quantum discord on the correlation direction.

Zhongguo kexue. Wulixue Lixue Tianwenxue•Apr 1, 2012•0 citations

Entanglement does not describe all quantum correlations and several authors have shown the need to go beyond entanglement when dealing with mixed states. Various different measures have sprung up in the literature, for a variety of reasons, to describe bipartite and multipartite quantum correlations; some are known under the collective name {\it quantum discord}. Yet, in the same sprit as the criteria for entanglement measures, there is no general mechanism that determines whether a measure of quantum and classical correlations is a proper measure of correlations. This is partially due to the fact that the answer is a bit muddy. In this article we attempt tackle this muddy topic by writing down several criteria for a ``good" measure of correlations. We breakup our list into \emph{necessary}, \emph{reasonable}, and \emph{debatable} conditions. We then proceed to prove several of these conditions for generalized measures of quantum correlations. However, not all conditions are met by all measures; we show this via several examples. The reasonable conditions are related to continuity of correlations, which has not been previously discussed. Continuity is an important quality if one wants to probe quantum correlations in the laboratory. We show that most types of quantum discord are continuous but none are continuous with respect to the measurement basis used for optimization.

Quantum entanglement and quantum nonlocality are known to exhibit monogamy; that is, they obey strong constraints on how they can be distributed among multipartite systems. Quantum correlations that comprise and go beyond entanglement are quantified by, e.g., quantum discord. It was observed recently that for some states quantum discord is not monogamous. We prove, in general, that any measure of correlations that is monogamous for all states and satisfies reasonable basic properties must vanish for all separable states: only entanglement measures can be strictly monogamous. Monogamy of other than entanglement measures can still be satisfied for special, restricted cases: we prove that the geometric measure of discord satisfies the monogamy inequality on all pure states of three qubits.

Correlations are a very important tool in the study of multipartite systems, for both classical and quantum ones. The discussion about the quantum nature of correlations permeates Physics since Einstein, Podolski and Rosen published their famous article criticizing quantum mechanics. Here, we provide a short review about the quantum nature of correlations, discussing both its theoretical and experimental aspects. We focus on quantum discord and related measures. After discussing their fundamental aspects (theoretically and experimentally), we proceed by analysing the dynamical behavior of correlations under decoherence as well as some applications in different scenarios, such as quantum computation and relativity, passing through critical and biological systems.

One of the best signatures of nonclassicality in a quantum system is the existence of correlations that have no classical counterpart. Different methods for quantifying the quantum and classical parts of correlations are among the more actively studied topics of quantum-information theory over the past decade. Entanglement is the most prominent of these correlations, but in many cases unentangled states exhibit nonclassical behavior too. Thus distinguishing quantum correlations other than entanglement provides a better division between the quantum and classical worlds, especially when considering mixed states. Here different notions of classical and quantum correlations quantified by quantum discord and other related measures are reviewed. In the first half, the mathematical properties of the measures of quantum correlations are reviewed, related to each other, and the classical-quantum division that is common among them is discussed. In the second half, it is shown that the measures identify and quantify the deviation from classicality in various quantum-information-processing tasks, quantum thermodynamics, open-system dynamics, and many-body physics. It is shown that in many cases quantum correlations indicate an advantage of quantum methods over classical ones.

A survey of various concepts in quantum information is given, with a main emphasis on the distinguishability of quantum states and quantum correlations. Covered topics include generalized and least square measurements, state discrimination, quantum relative entropies, the Bures distance on the set of quantum states, the quantum Fisher information, the quantum Chernoff bound, bipartite entanglement, the quantum discord, and geometrical measures of quantum correlations. The article is intended both for physicists interested not only by collections of results but also by the mathematical methods justifying them, and for mathematicians looking for an up-to-date introductory course on these subjects, which are mainly developed in the physics literature.

Quantum discord, a kind of quantum correlation, is defined as the difference between quantum mutual information and classical correlation in a bipartite system. In general, this correlation is different from entanglement, and quantum discord may be nonzero even for certain separable states. Even in the simple case of bipartite quantum systems, this different kind of quantum correlation has interesting and significant applications in quantum information processing. So far, quantum discord has been calculated explicitly only for a rather limited set of two-qubit quantum states and expressions for more general quantum states are not known. In this article, we derive explicit expressions for quantum discord for a larger class of two-qubit states, namely, a seven-parameter family of so called

X

states that have been of interest in a variety of contexts in the field. We also study the relation between quantum discord, classical correlation, and entanglement for a number of two-qubit states to demonstrate that they are independent measures of correlation with no simple relative ordering between them.

We discuss the upper bound of quantum discord, and derive a necessary condition for the reachable entropy quantum correlated states. We analyze the optimal measurements to access classical correlation in arbitrary two-qubit system. Then, we define the minimum quantum discord on the correlation direction, and demonstrate that it could be a good approximation of quantum discord. Finally, we study the dynamics of quantum correlation, which exhibits a sudden change under the decayed process, then we give a reasonable interpretation for this phenomenon with respects to the minimum quantum discord on the correlation direction.