Quantum discord is the most prominent of quantum correlations, but it does not have unique generalizations to the multipartite case.W states are especially useful for secure communication. In this paper, we propose that the quantum correlation in generic three-qubit pure W states can be given by the two-qubit discords of these states.
We investigate the prominent impacts of coupling strengths on the evolution of entanglement and quantum discord for a three-qubit system coupled to an XY spin-chain environment. In the case of a pure W state, more robust, even larger nonzero quantum correlations can be obtained by tailoring the coupling strengths between the qubits and the environment. For a mixed state consisting of the GHZ and W states, the dynamics of entanglement and quantum discord can characterize the critical point of quantum phase transition. Remarkably, a large nonzero quantum discord is generally retained, while the nonzero entanglement can only be obtained as the system-environment coupling satisfies certain conditions. We also find that the impact of each qubit’s coupling strength on the quantum correlation dynamics strongly depends on the variation schemes of the system-environment couplings.
We explore the quantum correlation distribution in multipartite quantum states based on the square of quantum discord (SQD). For tripartite quantum systems, we derive the necessary and sufficient condition for the SQD to satisfy the monogamy relation. Particularly, we prove that the SQD is monogamous for three-qubit pure states, based on which a genuine tripartite quantum correlation measure is introduced. In addition, we also address the quantum correlation distributions in four-qubit pure states. As an example, we investigate multipartite quantum correlations in the dynamical evolution of multipartite cavity-reservoir systems.
The distribution of quantum correlations in multipartite systems plays a significant role in several aspects of quantum information theory. While it is well known that these quantum correlations cannot be freely distributed, the way that they are shared in a multipartite system is an open problem even for a small set of qubits. Based on monogamylike relations between entanglement and discord for n-partite systems, we show how these correlations are distributed in general, determining distinct equalities and inequalities to the quantum discord and the entanglement of formation for arbitrary multipartite pure states.
In contrast with entanglement, as measured by concurrence, in general, quantum discord does not possess the property of monogamy; that is, there is no tradeoff between the quantum discord shared by a pair of subsystems and the quantum discord that both of them can share with a third party. Here, we show that, as far as monogamy is considered, quantum discord of pure states is equivalent to the entanglement of formation. This result allows one to analytically prove that none of the pure three-qubit states belonging to the subclass of W states is monogamous. A suitable physical interpretation of the meaning of the correlation information as a quantifier of monogamy for the total information is also given. Finally, we prove that, for rank 2 two-qubit states, discord and classical correlations are bounded from above by single-qubit von Neumann entropies.
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.