Correlations in Quantum

States
Shunlong Luo
Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing
[email protected]

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences

Leipzig, August 2-6, 2010
Qualification and Quantification of

Correlations (classical, quantum, total)

in multipartite quantum states.
Two themes:
1. Separability/Entanglement
2. Classicality/Quantumness
∼ Non-disturbance/Disturbance
∼ Commutativity/Non-commutativity
 Outline

1. States: Probabilities, Density Matrices

2. Separability/Entanglement
3. Classicality/Quantumness
4. Quantum Discord
5. Quantumness of Quantum Ensembles
6. No-cloning and No-broadcasting
7. Monogamy of Multipartite Correlations
8. Summary
1. States: Probabilities, Density Matrices
• A classical state is described by a
probability distribution
p = (p1, p2, · · · , pn ),
which can also be represented by a diagonal
matrix
 
p1 0 · · · 0
 0 p ··· 0
 
p ∼ p =  .. ..2 . . .

. ...
 . . 
0 0 ··· pn
• Consider two classical states represented by
diagonal matrices p and q. They always
commute.

• Classicality ∼ Commutativity
• Information content (Uncertainty) of a
classical state p = {pi } is well quantified by
the Shannon entropy (1948):
X
H(p) := − pi logpi .
i
• A quantum state is described by a density
matrix (non-negative matrix with unit trace)
 
ρ11 ρ12 · · · ρ1n
 ρ21 ρ22 · · · ρ2n 
 
ρ =  .. ... . . . ...  .
 . 
ρn1 ρn2 · · · ρnn
X
trρ = ρii = 1.
i
Here tr denotes the trace of a matrix.
Quantumness ∼ Non-commutativity

• A single quantum state can always be

regarded as classical in the sense that it can
be dioganalized.

• But this is not the case for a set of several

quantum states.
• Classical information content of a quantum
state ρ is well quantified by the von
Neumann entropy (1927):
S(ρ) := −trρlogρ.
P
• If ρ = i pi |iihi| is the spectral
decomposition, then
X
S(ρ) = − pi logpi .
i
• Classical states can be naturally embedded
in quantum states.
• Classical states are particular instances of
quantum states.
Correlations are encoded in multipartite states

• Classical case: bivariate probability

distribution p ab with marginals p a and p b
The correlations in p ab are usually quantified
by the Shannon mutual information:
I (p ab ) = H(p a ) + H(p b ) − H(p ab )
• Quantum case: bipartite state ρab , a
density matrix in the tensor product Hilbert
space H a ⊗ H b , with marginals ρa and ρb
The (total) correlations in ρab are usually
quantified by the quantum mutual
information:
I (ρab ) = S(ρa ) + S(ρb ) − S(ρab )
Fundamental difference between classical and
quantum correlations

Perfect correlations
• Classical case: pijab = pi δij
Shannon mutual information:
I (p ab ) = H({pi }).
• Quantum case: ρab = |Ψab ihΨab | with
P √
|Ψab i = i pi |ii ⊗ |ii
Quantum mutual information:
I (ρab ) = 2H({pi }).
Key issues: How to classify and quantify
correlations in a bipartite state

• Classification issue: Different correlations,

Separate total correlations into classical part
and quantum part

• Quantification issue: Measures of various

correlations
Two basic schemes

• Separability/Entanglement

• Classicality/Quantumness (of correlations)

2. Separability/Entanglement (Werner, 1989)

• A bipartite state ρab shared by two parties

a and b is separable if it can be represented
as X
ab
ρ = pi ρai ⊗ ρbi
i
with {pi } a probability distribution, {ρai } and
{ρbi } families of density matrices for parties a
and b, respectively.
• Otherwise, ρab is called entangled.
Detection and quantification of entanglement

• Detection (Hard problem): How to tell if a

bipartite state is separable or entangled?
Various Bell inequalities
Peres’ positive partial transposition
Methods based on uncertainty relations
......
• Quantification (Complicated problem):
How to quantify the entanglement of a
bipartite state?
Entanglement of formation
Entanglement cost
Relative entropy of entanglement
Squashed entanglement
Negativity
......
A “paradox” for entanglement of formation

Werner state
P− P+
w =θ + (1 − θ) ,
d− d+
where P− (P+) is the projection from
C d ⊗ C d to the anti-symmetric (symmetric)
2
subspace of C d ⊗ C d , and d± = d 2±d .
Entanglement of formation
1 p
E (w ) = H( − θ(1 − θ)).
2
Quantum mutual information
2d 2
I (w ) = log 2 − H(θ).
(d − d )θ (d 2 + d )1−θ
When d is sufficiently large,
E (w ) > I (w ).
quantum entanglement > total correlation?
Entanglement is not the only kind of quantum
correlations

Certain quantum advantage is not based on

quantum entanglement, but rather on
separable states which still possess certain
quantum correlations.
A. Datta, A. Shaji, C. M. Caves, Quantum
discord and the power of one qubit, Phys.
Rev. Lett. 100, 050502 (2008).
3. Classicality/Quantumness (of Correlations)
Piani et al., Luo, 2008
• A state ρab shared by two parties a and b
is called classical (w.r.t. correlations, or more
precisely, classical-classical) if it is left
undisturbed by certain local von Neumann
measurement Π = {Πai ⊗ Πbj }, that is,
X
ab ab
ρ = Π(ρ ) := Πai ⊗ Πbj ρab Πai ⊗ Πbj .
ij

• Otherwise, it is called quantum (w.r.t.

correlations).
• ρab is called classical-quantum, if it is left
undisturbed by a local von Neumann
measurement Πa = {Πai } for party a, that is,
X
ab a ab
ρ = Π (ρ ) := Πai ⊗ 1b ρab Πai ⊗ 1b .
i
Characterizations, Luo, Phys. Rev. A, 2008
• ρab is classical-classical iff
X
ab
ρ = pij |iihi| ⊗ |jihj|.
ij

Here {pij } is a bivariate probability

distribution, {|ii} and {|ji} are orthogonal
sets for parties a and b, respectively.
• ρab is classical-quantum iff
X
ab
ρ = pi |iihi| ⊗ ρbi .
i
Separability vs. classicality
Li and Luo, Phys. Rev. A, 2008

• ρab is separable iff it can be viewed as a

local reduction of a classical state in a larger
system:
0 0
ρab = tra0b0 ρaa bb .
0 0
Here ρaa bb is a classical state (w.r.t. the cut
0 0
aa0 : bb 0) on (H a ⊗ H a ) ⊗ (H b ⊗ H b ).
4. Quantum Discord

• The quantum discord of ρab is defined as

D(ρab ) := I (ρab ) − sup I (Πa (ρab )).
Πa

Here Πa = {Πai } is a von Neumann

measurement for party a and
X
a ab
Π (ρ ) := Πai ⊗ 1b ρab Πai ⊗ 1b .
i
Vanishing of quantum discord

• The quantum discord of ρab vanishes iff

ρab is a classical-quantum state.
• A. Shabani, D. A. Lidar, PRL, 2009
A bipartite state ρab is classical-quantum iff
for any unitary operator U ab , the map
tra U ab ρab (U ab )†
is completely positive w.r.t. ρa = trb ρab .
Luo, Quantum discord for two-qubit systems,
Phys. Rev. A, 2008
• For two-qubit state
3
1 X
ρab = (1a ⊗ 1b + cj σja ⊗ σjb ),
4 j=1

we have

3
ab 1X 1+c 1−c
D(ρ ) = λj logλj − log(1 + c) − log(1 − c)
4 j=0 2 2

where c = max{|c1 |, |c2 |, |c3 |}, and

λ0 = 1 − c1 − c 2 − c 3 , λ1 = 1 − c 1 + c 2 + c 3
λ2 = 1 + c1 − c2 + c 3 , λ3 = 1 + c 1 + c 2 − c 3 .
Sudden death of entanglement vs. robustness of
quantum discord

• Yu and Eberly, Sudden death of

entanglement, Science, 2009
During an evolution, entanglement may
easily come to a death.
• Robustness of quantum discord:
Ferraro et al., Phys. Rev. A, 2010
Almost all bipartite quantum states have a
non-vanishing quantum discord.
For almost all initial states and almost all
quantum evolution, the resulting final states
have a non-vanishing quantum discord.
Werlang et al., Phys. Rev. A, 2009
Quantum discord is more robust than
entanglement.
Experimental investigation of classical and
quantum correlations

J. S. Xu et al., Nature Communications 1, 7

(2010).
An alternative quantum discord

• Geometric measure of quantum discord

D(ρab ) := min
a
||ρab − Πa (ρab )||2,
Π

where the min is over von Neumann

measurement Πa = {Πak } on system H a , and
Πa (ρab ) := k (Πak ⊗ 1b )ρab (Πak ⊗ 1b ).
P
A formula

Let ρab = ij cij Xi ⊗ Yj be expressed in

P

local orthonormal operator bases, then

D(ρab ) = tr(CC t ) − max tr(ACC t At ),
A

where C = (cij ), and the max is over m × m2

dimensional matrices A = (aki ) such that
aki = tr|kihk|Xi , and {|ki} is any
orthonormal base for H a .
In particular,
m m 2
X X
D(ρab ) ≥ tr(CC t ) − λi = λi ,
i=1 i=m+1

where λi are the eigenvalues of CC t listed in

decreasing order (counting multiplicity).
Observable correlations
• The observable correlations of ρab is
defined as
C (ρab ) := I (ρab ) − sup I (Π(ρab )).
Π

Here Π(ρab ) := Πai ⊗ Πbj ρab Πai ⊗ Πbj .

P
ij
The quantity
Q(ρab ) := I (ρab ) − C (ρab )
may be interpreted as a measure of quantum
correlations in ρab .
Lindblad conjecture, 1991
• The Lindblad conjecture states that
C (ρab ) ≥ Q(ρab ).
• Supporting evidence:
(1) It can happen C (ρab ) > 0 and
Q(ρab ) = 0, but never C (ρab ) = 0 and
Q(ρab ) > 0.
(2) For any classical state, we have
C (ρab ) = I (ρab ) and Q(ρab ) = 0.
(3) For any pure state, we have
C (ρab ) = Q(ρab ) = 12 I (ρab ).
Unfortunately, the Lindblad conjecture is false

Luo and Zhang, J. Stat. Phys. 2009

Counterexamples abounds!
5. Quantumness of Quantum Ensembles

• A quantum ensemble E = {pi , ρi } consists

of a family of quantum states ρi with
corresponding probabilities pi .
• How to distinguish two quantum
ensembles?
• How to quantify the quantumness of a
quantum ensemble?
• A measure of quantumness:
Let E = {pi , ρi } be a quantum ensemble,
then it can be canonically identified as a
bipartite classical-quantum state
X
ρE := pi |iihi| ⊗ ρi .
i

Consequently, we may use the quantum

correlations (e.g., quantum discord) to
quantify the quantumness of the ensemble E.
6. No-cloning and No-broadcasting

• Plausible observation:
Classical objects can be cloned and
broadcast, while quantum objects cannot.
• Reasoning:
Otherwise, we could extract precise
information from quantum system, and thus
beat the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.
• Cloning and broadcasting demarcate the
boundary between classical and quantum.
• A quantum state ρ in a Hilbert space H is
clonable if there exists a quantum operation
E : S(H) → S(H) ⊗ S(H) such that
E(ρ) = ρ ⊗ ρ.
• A quantum state ρ in a Hilbert space H is
broadcastable if there exists a quantum
operation E : S(H) → S(H) ⊗ S(H) such
that both the two marginal states of E(ρ)
are ρ.
• Wootters and Zurek, A single quantum
cannot be cloned, Nature, 1982
• Dieks, Communication by EPR device,
Phys. Lett. A, 1982
• Non-cloning Theorem:
1. An unknown quantum state cannot be
cloned.
2. A set of quantum states can be cloned iff
they are classical.
No-broadcasting for non-commuting states,
Barnum et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 1996

A family of quantum states {ρi } can be

simultaneously broadcast iff the states are
commutative.
Broadcasting for correlations
• The correlations in ρab are locally
broadcastable if there exist two operations
E a : S(H a ) → S(H a1 ⊗ H a2 ) and
E b : S(H b ) → S(H b1 ⊗ H b2 ) such that
I (ρa1b1 ) = I (ρa2b2 ) = I (ρab ).
Here I (ρab ) := S(ρa ) + S(ρb ) − S(ρab ) is the
quantum mutual information,
ρa1a2b1b2 := E a ⊗ E b (ρab ) and
ρa1b1 := tra2b2 ρa1a2b1b2 , ρa2b2 := tra1b1 ρa1a2b1b2 .
No-local-broadcasting for quantum correlations,
Piani et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2008

The correlations in a bipartite state ρab

shared by two parties a and b can be locally
broadcast iff the correlations are classical.
Unilocal broadcasting for correlations

• The correlations in ρab is called locally

broadcast by party a, if there exists an
operation
E a : S(H a ) → S(H a1 ⊗ H a2 )
such that I (ρa1b ) = I (ρa2b ) = I (ρab ). Here
ρa1b := tra2 ρa1a2b , ρa2b := tra1 ρa1a2b , and
ρa1a2b := E a ⊗ I b (ρab ) ∈ S(H a1 ⊗ H a2 ⊗ H b ).
No-unilocal-broadcasting for quantum correlations,
Luo, Lett. Math. Phys., 2010; Phys. Rev. A, 2010

The correlations in a bipartite state ρab

shared by two parties a and b can be locally
broadcast by party a if and only if the
correlations are classical-quantum (i.e.,
classical on party a).

Equivalence of the no-broadcasting theorems

by Barnum et al. and by Piani et al.
7. Monogamy of Multipartite Correlations

Luo and Sun, Separability and entanglement

in tripartite systems, Theor. Math. Phys.
2009
• Consider a tripartite state ρab , if a and b
are perfectly correlated, than a and c cannot
be entangled.
8. Summary

• The premise of correlations:

A system in a pure state cannot have any
correlation with other systems. In order for a
system to establish correlations with other
systems, it must be in a mixed state.

“ Y–˜KÃ~§<– KÃä"0
• Distribution of correlations:
Classical correlations can be arbitrarily
distributed among systems.
Quantum correlations have monogamy: If
system a has strong correlations with system
b, then it cannot have strong correlations
with any other system c. In particular, if
system a is perfectly correlated with system
b, then it cannot be entangled with any
other system c.
• Species of correlations:

Scheme 1
Werner, 1989 Separable Entanglement
Scheme 2
Piani et al. Classical Quantum
Luo, 2008
Scheme 3
Modi et al. Classical Dissonance Entanglement
2010
• Quantification of correlations:
Various measures of correlations such as
Entanglement measures,
Quantum discord,
Observable correlations
Measurement-induced disturbance
......
Thank you!