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arXiv:quant-ph/0305023 · Physical Review Letters

A Subsystem-Independent Generalization of Entanglement

Howard Barnum, Emanuel H. Knill, Gerardo Ortíz, Rolando D. Somma, Lorenza Viola

Published Mar 12, 2004• 312 citations
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Abstract

We present a generalization of entanglement based on the idea that entanglement is relative to a distinguished subspace of observables rather than a distinguished subsystem decomposition. A pure quantum state is entangled relative to such a subspace if its expectations are a proper mixture of those of other states. Many information-theoretic aspects of entanglement can be extended to this observable-based setting, suggesting new ways of measuring and classifying multipartite entanglement. By going beyond the distinguishable-subsystem framework, generalized entanglement also provides novel tools for probing quantum correlations in interacting many-body systems.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.92.107902

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We present a generalization of entanglement based on the idea that entanglement is relative to a distinguished subspace of observables rather than a distinguished subsystem decomposition. A pure quantum state is entangled relative to such a subspace if its expectations are a proper mixture of those of other states. Many information-theoretic aspects of entanglement can be extended to this observable-based setting, suggesting new ways of measuring and classifying multipartite entanglement. By going beyond the distinguishable-subsystem framework, generalized entanglement also provides novel tools for probing quantum correlations in interacting many-body systems.
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A general framework is developed for separating classical and quantum correlations in a multipartite system. Entanglement is defined as the difference in the correlation information encoded by the state of a system and a suitably defined separable state with the same marginals. A generalization of the Schmidt decomposition is developed to implement the separation of correlations for any pure, multipartite state. The measure based on this decomposition is a generalization of the entanglement of formation to multipartite systems, provides an upper bound for the relative entropy of entanglement, and is directly computable on pure states. The example of pure three-qubit states is analyzed in detail, and a classification based on minimal, four-term decompositions is developed.
We present a notion of generalized entanglement which goes beyond the conventional definition based on quantum subsystems. This is accomplished by directly defining entanglement as a property of quantum states relative to a distinguished set of observables singled out by Physics. While recovering standard entanglement as a special case, our notion allows for substantially broader generality and flexibility, being applicable, in particular, to situations where existing tools are not directly useful.
Entanglement plays a pervasive role nowadays throughout quantum information science, and at the same time provides a bridging notion between quantum information science and fields as diverse as condensed-matter theory, quantum gravity, and quantum foundations. In recent years, a notion of ''Generalized Entanglement'' (GE) has emerged, based on the idea that entanglement may be directly defined through expectation values of preferred observables -- without reference to a preferred subsystem decomposition. Preferred observables capture the physically relevant point of view, as defined by dynamical, operational, or fundamental constraints. While reducing to the standard entanglement notion when preferred observables are restricted to arbitrary local observables acting on individual subsystems, GE substantially expands subsystem-based entanglement theories, in terms of both conceptual foundations and range of applicability. Remarkably, the GE framework allows for non-trivial entanglement to exist within a single, indecomposable quantum system, demands in general a distinction between quantum separability and absence of entanglement, and naturally extends to situations where existing approaches may not be directly useful -- such as entanglement in arbitrary convex-cones settings and entanglement for indistinguishable quantum particles. In this paper, we revisit the main motivations leading to GE, and summarize the accomplishments and prospects of the GE program to date, with an eye toward conceptual developments and implications. In particular, we explain how the GE approach both shares strong points of contact with abstract operational quantum theories and, ultimately, calls for an observer-dependent redefinition of concepts like locality, completeness, and reality in quantum theory.
Despite significant advances in quantum information theory, the well-known entanglement axiom cannot be used to completely distinguish between different types of entanglement. We address this fundamental limitation by proposing generalized entanglement axioms for the complete characterization of entanglement. We firstly extend entanglement axioms under vector majorization---a mathematical framework that extends beyond conventional scalar measures. We then introduce entanglement-measure vectors that enable comprehensive classification of all bipartite pure states under local unitary operations. We further demonstrate how this framework naturally extends to multipartite systems through marginal information analysis. This work establishes a unified, mathematically rigorous methodology for entanglement classification with implications for both quantum foundations and quantum technologies.