Positive but not completely positive maps provide one of the most direct ways to detect entanglement beyond the positive-partial-transpose (PPT) criterion. We introduce and analyze an exactly solvable two-parameter family of sparse bistochastic positive maps on qutrits, in which two coherence channels are independently tuned by parameters
w and
z. The sparse structure makes the full phase diagram analytic: positivity holds exactly on the square
0≤w,z≤2/3, complete positivity on the smaller square
0≤w,z≤1/3, and decomposability is lost precisely outside a quarter circle in the corner
w,z≥1/3. The indecomposable region is certified by explicit PPT entangled state adapted to the same witness geometry. At the endpoint
W∗=W(2/3,2/3) we construct a four-parameter family of PPT edge states of rank type
(5,5), derive their analytic detection region, and show that the corresponding rays are exposed faces of the PPT cone. Finally, although
W∗ is not optimal, we give an explicit optimal refinement whose detection region on this family is strictly larger. The result is an analytically tractable qutrit setting in which positivity, indecomposability, PPT entanglement, optimality, and exposed convex geometry can be studied in a single framework.
We study a family of sparse positive maps on qutrits for which positivity, decomposability, and PPT entanglement can all be analysed explicitly. The block structure of the associated Choi matrices reduces positivity to a Hermitian biquadratic form and leads to exact positivity boundaries for three representative parametric families. For the same families we determine the exact transition between decomposable and non-decomposable maps and construct associated PPT states of two classes. The first consists of witness-adapted deformations naturally tied to the non-decomposability analysis. The second consists of analytically tractable families whose full PPT-entangled branch is detected by fixed positive maps, yielding exact thresholds between separability and bound entanglement. For the trace-preserving subclass, we further compare positivity with a recent eigenvalue bound for 2-positive maps, thereby making the gap between positivity and higher-order positivity fully explicit within this family.
We construct a family of positive but not completely positive linear maps acting on
M4(C), obtained as a natural extension of Kye’s indecomposable maps defined for
M3(C). We rigorously prove positivity of these maps on 'X' states and employ them to identify a one-parameter family of bipartite quantum states living in the vicinity of maximally mixed state to be entangled even though states are positive under partial transposition (PPT). This provides an explicit example of a family of quantum states with both bound entangled states and free entangled states in
4⊗4 systems, a regime that remains less characterized compared to lower-dimensional cases. The proposed maps detect entanglement and reveal new structural features of the PPT entangled region in higher dimensions. Our results extend the applicability of positive-map–based entanglement detection and contribute to the systematic understanding of bound entanglement beyond the
3⊗3 and
2⊗4 systems. In addition, we show that generalized Choi maps simply can not detect well known PPT entangled states for
2⊗4 systems.
Entanglement swapping is a fundamental operation in quantum repeaters for establishing entanglement between distant parties. The positive partial transpose (PPT) squared conjecture asks whether two PPT entangled links can generate terminal entanglement through entanglement swapping, or equivalently, whether the composition of two PPT maps is always entanglement breaking. Motivated by this conjecture, we investigate the map-composition problem beyond the PPT setting. For qutrit completely positive (CP) maps, we prove that the composition of any CP map whose Choi matrix is
1-undistillable with any CP map whose Choi matrix has Schmidt number at most two is entanglement breaking in either order. Moreover, we show that the cone of
1-undistillable CP maps is exactly the largest qutrit cone of CP maps whose composition with every CP map whose Choi matrix has Schmidt number at most two is entanglement breaking in both orders. Finally, although map composition captures only the standard maximally entangled outcome in entanglement swapping, we prove that any
1-undistillable two-qutrit state and any state of Schmidt number at most two cannot generate terminal entanglement under an arbitrary selective measurement on the intermediate systems.
We develop a new method for entanglement detection in bipartite quantum states by using the violation of the rank-1-generated property of matrices. The positive-semidefinite matrices form a convex cone that has extremal elements of rank 1. But, convex conic subsets resulting from the presence of linear constraints allow extremal elements of rank >= 2. The problem of deciding when a matrix is rank-1 generated, i.e, a sum of rank-1 positive-semidefinite (PSD) matrices, has been studied extensively in optimization theory. This rank-1 generated property acts as an entanglement criterion, and we use this property to find novel classes of PPT (Positive under partial transposition) entangled states. We do this by mapping some faces of PPT density matrices to convex cones that are not rank-1 generated. We show that all separable states map to a rank-1 generated matrix. In general, the same is not true for the corresponding mapping of PPT entangled states. We also extend this approach to construct PPT entangled edge states. Finally, we provide witnesses that detect violations of the rank-1 generated property.
This paper investigates the properties of Choi polynomials and their fundamental role in the theory of positive linear maps between matrix algebras. By focusing on Hermitian symmetric biquadratic forms, we establish a connection between the positivity of these forms and the structure of positive maps. We specifically explore the construction of indecomposable positive maps in matrix algebras, and their application as entanglement witnesses. Our analysis extends to the detection of Positive Partial Transpose (PPT) entangled states and the classification of edge PPT states in
Mm(C)⊗Mn(C). Our results provide a refined framework for identifying non-separable states that escape the standard PPT criterion, contributing to the broader understanding of entanglement distillation and quantum information theory.