Physical Review A
Constraints between concurrence and polarization for mixed states subjected to open system dynamics
Yonny Yugra, C. Montenegro La Torre, F. De Zela
Abstract
Entanglement and polarization are mutually constrained by the relationship ${C}^{2}+{P}^{2}=1$, which engages the concurrence $C$ of a pure, two-qubit state and the degree of polarization $P$ of either of its two subsystems. How the above constraint generalizes for mixed states is an open question. We address mixed, two-qubit states of the $X$ type, i.e., those whose density matrix has nonzero elements only in the two main diagonals. We focus on mixed states that arise out of a pure, two-qubit state that is subjected to either the amplitude damping channel or the depolarizing channel. We derive alternative constraints for concurrence and polarization and test them experimentally with polarization-entangled photons. We argue that our theoretical results hold also for classical light, whenever two binary degrees of freedom can be entangled.