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A Separability of mixed states: necessary and sufficient conditions

Michał Horodecki, Paweł Horodecki, Ryszard Horodecki

Published Jan 1, 1996• 2,276 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

We provide necessary and sufficient conditions for the separability of mixed states. As a result we obtain a simple criterion of the separability for 2 x 2 and 2 x 3 systems. Here, the positivity of the partial transposition of a state is necessary and sufficient for its separability. However, this is not the case in general. Some examples of mixtures which demonstrate the utility of the criterion are considered.

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Infinite Dimensional Analysis Quantum Probability and Related Topics•Nov 13, 2014•4 citations
We provide necessary and sufficient conditions for the separability of mixed states. As a result we obtain a simple criterion of the separability for 2 x 2 and 2 x 3 systems. Here, the positivity of the partial transposition of a state is necessary and sufficient for its separability. However, this is not the case in general. Some examples of mixtures which demonstrate the utility of the criterion are considered.
A state acting on Hilbert space {\\cal H}_1\\otimes{\\cal H}_2 is called separable if it can be approximated in trace norm by convex combinations of product states. We provide necessary and sufficient conditions for separability of mixed states in terms of functionals and positive maps. As a result we obtain a complete characterization of separable states for 2\\times2 and 2\\times3 systems. Here, the positivity of the partial transposition of a state is necessary and sufficient for its separability.
Recently, a powerful separability criterion was introduced by O. Rudolf in [5] and by K. Chen et al. in [6] — basing on realignment of elements of density matrix. Composing the main idea behind the above criterion and the necessary and sufficient condition in terms of positive maps, we provide a characterization of separable states by means of linear contractions. The latter need not be positive maps. We extend the idea to multipartite systems, and find that, somewhat suprisingly, partial realigment (unlike partial transposition) can detect genuinely tri-parite entanglement. We generalize it by introducing a family of so called permutation separability criteria for multipartite states. Namely, any permutation of indices of density matrix written in product basis leads to a separability criterion. Partial transpose and realignment criterion are special cases of permutation criteria.
Recently, a new and powerful separability criterion was introduced in [O. Rudolph, quant-ph/0202121] and [Chen {\it et al.}, quant-ph/0205017]. Composing the main idea behind the above criterion and the necessary and sufficient condition in terms of positive maps, we provide a characterization of separable states by means of linear contractions. The latter need not be positive maps. We extend the idea to multipartite systems, and find that, somewhat suprisingly, partial realigment (unlike partial transposition) can detect genuinely triparite entanglement. We also show that for multipartite system any permutation of indices of density matrix leads to separability criterion.