We propose a framework to characterize entanglement with quantum discord, both asymmetric and symmetric, over state extensions. In particular, we show that the minimal Bures distance of discord over state extensions is equivalent to the Bures distance of entanglement. This equivalence places quantum discord in a more primitive position than entanglement conceptually in the sense that entanglement can be interpreted as an irreducible part of discord over all state extensions. Based on this equivalence, we also offer an operational meaning of the Bures distance of entanglement by connecting it to quantum state discrimination. Moreover, for the relative entropy part, we prove that the entanglement measure introduced by Devi and Rajagopal [A. R. U. Devi and A. K. Rajagopal, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 140502 (2008)] is actually equivalent to the relative entropy of entanglement. We also provide several quantifications of entanglement based on discord measures.
We propose a framework to characterize entanglement with quantum discord, both asymmetric and symmetric, over state extensions. In particular, we show that the minimal Bures distance of discord over state extensions is equivalent to the Bures distance of entanglement. This equivalence places quantum discord in a more primitive position than entanglement conceptually in the sense that entanglement can be interpreted as an irreducible part of discord over all state extensions. Based on this equivalence, we also offer an operational meaning of the Bures distance of entanglement by connecting it to quantum state discrimination. Moreover, for the relative entropy part, we prove that the entanglement measure introduced by Devi and Rajagopal [A. R. U. Devi and A. K. Rajagopal, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 140502 (2008)] is actually equivalent to the relative entropy of entanglement. We also provide several quantifications of entanglement based on discord measures.
The characterization and quantification of quantum correlations, which play an instrumental role in exploring and exploiting the quantum world, have been extensively and intensively studied in the past few decades. Of special prominence and significance are the concepts of entanglement and discord, which are usually regarded as very distinctive quantum correlations, with the latter going beyond the former. In this work we establish a direct and natural link between entanglement and discord via state extensions and reveal that entanglement is actually the intrinsic discord, by which we mean that entanglement is the irreducible residue of discord viewed from ambient spaces. Our approach, taking into account the contextuality of a quantum state and being of a global nature, stands in sharp contrast to the local operations and classical communication paradigm of entanglement, which focuses on the state itself via a local approach. Furthermore, we introduce a figure of merit which, on the one hand, captures the essence of entanglement, i.e., nonlocality and quantumness of correlations, and, on the other hand, leads to a quantitative decomposition of total correlations into classical correlations, dissonance, and entanglement. This demystifies the meaning of entanglement from the perspective of quantum measurements and provides a unified framework for the interplay of various correlations in terms of quantum measurements and mutual information.
Two-qubit X-state is a large class of quantum states which plays an important role in the quantification and dynamical study of quantum correlations. However, the corresponding quantification of quantum discord is still missing for bona fide discord measures, like original quantum discord, Bures distance of discord, and relative entropy of discord. In this paper, we consider the calculation of Bures distance of discord, which is a kind of correlation satisfying all criteria of a discord measure, for two-qubit X-states. Firstly, we derive an explicit expression for Bures distance of discord for a kind of five-parameters family of states. Moreover, for general two-qubit X-states, we not only calculate the Bures distance of discord for a subset of two-qubit X-states by classifying and analyzing the optimal local measurements and the optimal projection operators but also provide an analytic upper bound for the entirety.
Measurements of quantum systems disturb their states. To quantify this nonclassical characteristic, Zurek and Ollivier [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 017901 (2001)] introduced the quantum discord, a quantum correlation that can be nonzero even when entanglement in the system is zero. Discord has aroused great interest as a resource that is more robust against the effects of decoherence and offers the exponential speed-up of certain computational algorithms. Here, we study general two-level bipartite systems and give general results on the relationship between discord, entanglement, and linear entropy. We also identify the states for which discord takes a maximal value for a given entropy or entanglement, thus placing strong bounds on entanglement-discord and entropy-discord relations. We find out that although discord and entanglement are identical for pure states, they differ when generalized to mixed states as a result of the difference in the method of generalization.
Quantum discord, as defined by Olliver and Zurek (2002 Phys. Rev. Lett. 88 017901) as the difference of two natural quantum extensions of the classical mutual information, plays an interesting role in characterizing quantumness of correlations. Inspired by this idea, we will study quantumness of bipartite states arising from different quantum analogs of the classical conditional entropy. Our approach is intrinsic, in contrast to the Olliver–Zurek method that involves extrinsic local measurements. For this purpose, we introduce two alternative variants of quantum conditional entropies via conditional density operators, which in turn are intuitive quantum extensions of equivalent classical expressions for the conditional probability. The significance of these quantum conditional entropies in characterizing quantumness of bipartite states is illustrated through several examples.
We define a new measure of quantum correlations in bipartite quantum systems given by the Bures distance of the system state to the set of classical states with respect to one subsystem, that is, to the states with zero quantum discord. Our measure is a geometrical version of the quantum discord. As the latter it quantifies the degree of non-classicality in the system. For pure states it is identical to the geometric measure of entanglement. We show that for mixed states it coincides with the optimal success probability of an ambiguous quantum state discrimination task. Moreover, the closest zero-discord states to a state ρ are obtained in terms of the corresponding optimal measurements.
Quantum discord, a measure of quantum correlation beyond entanglement, is initially defined as the discord between two classically equivalent while quantum discordant definitions of mutual information. In this paper, we report some new interpretations of discord which rely on the differences between measurement-induced effects on the local measured system and the whole system. Specifically, with proper quantitative definitions introduced in Buscemi et al (2008 Phys. Rev. Lett. 100 210504), we find that quantum discord can be interpreted as the differences of measurement-induced disturbance or information gain on the local measured system and on the whole system. Combined with previous similar results based on measurement-induced entanglement and decoherence, our results provide a unified view on quantum discord.