Employing the volume of quantum steering ellipsoids (QSEs) as a measure on the fifteen-dimensional convex set of two-qubit states, we estimate the ratio of the integral of the measure over the separable states to its integral over all (separable and entangled) states to be 0.0288. This can be contrasted with the considerably larger separability ratios (probabilities) of $\frac{8}{33} = \frac{2^3}{3 \cdot 11} \approx 0.242424$ and $\frac{25}{341}=\frac{5^2}{11 \cdot 31} \approx 0.0733138$ that various forms of evidence point to with the use of the prominent Hilbert-Schmidt and Bures measures, respectively. The questions of whether the ratio in the QSE setting can be more precisely obtained or even exactly computed, as well as whether a metric can be constructed, the volume element of which yields the measure, remain to be addressed. We also investigate related issues pertaining to absolute separability. Further, we examine the behavior of the separability probability--constant in the Hilbert-Schmidt case and decreasing in the Bures--as a function of the Bloch vector norm in the QSE instance. It appears to increase approaching the pure state boundary.
We identify the families of states that maximise some recently proposed quantifiers of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) steering and the volume of the Quantum Steering Ellipsoid (QSE). The optimal measurements which maximise genuine EPR steering measures are discussed and we develop a novel way to find them using the QSE. We thus explore the links between genuine EPR steering and the QSE and introduce states that can be the most useful for one-sided device-independent quantum cryptography for a given amount of noise.
Any two-qubit state can be faithfully represented by a steering ellipsoid inside the Bloch sphere, but not every ellipsoid inside the Bloch sphere corresponds to a two-qubit state. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for when the geometric data describe a physical state and investigate maximal volume ellipsoids lying on the physical-unphysical boundary. We derive monogamy relations for steering that are strictly stronger than the Coffman-Kundu-Wootters (CKW) inequality for monogamy of concurrence. The CKW result is thus found to follow from the simple perspective of steering ellipsoid …
We reexamine a recent analysis in which, using the volume of the associated quantum steering ellipsoid (QES) as a measure, we sought to estimate the probability that a two-qubit state is separable. In the estimation process, we, in effect, sought to attach to states random with respect to Hilbert-Schmidt (HS) measure, the corresponding QES volumes. However, a study of the relations between HS and Bures ensembles and their well-supported separability probabilities of $\frac{8}{33}$ and $\frac{25}{341}$, respectively, now lead us to explore as a possible alternative measure, the QES volume divid…
The quantum steering ellipsoid of a two-qubit state is the set of Bloch vectors that Bob can collapse Alice's qubit to, considering all possible measurements on his qubit. We provide an elementary construction of the ellipsoid for arbitrary states, calculate its volume, and explain how this geometric representation can be made faithful. The representation provides a range of new results, and uncovers new features, such as the existence of "incomplete steering" in separable states. We show that entanglement can be analysed in terms of three geometric features of the ellipsoid, and prove that a …
The question of which two-qubit states are steerable (i.e. permit a demonstration of EPR-steering) remains open. Here, a strong necessary condition is obtained for the steerability of two-qubit states having maximally-mixed reduced states, via the construction of local hidden state models. It is conjectured that this condition is in fact sufficient. Two provably sufficient conditions are also obtained, via asymmetric EPR-steering inequalities. Our work uses ideas from the quantum steering ellipsoid formalism, and explicitly evaluates the integral of $\boldsymbol n/(\boldsymbol n^\intercal A\bo…
When two qubits A and B are in an appropriate state, Alice can remotely steer Bob's system B into different ensembles by making different measurements on A. This famous phenomenon is known as quantum steering, or Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering. Importantly, quantum steering establishes the correspondence not only between a measurement on A (made by Alice) and an ensemble of B (owned by Bob) but also between each of Alice's measurement outcomes and an unnormalized conditional state of Bob's system. The unnormalized conditional states of B corresponding to all possible measurement outcomes of …
Quantum steering is a perplexing feature at the heart of quantum mechanics that provides profound implications in understanding the nature of physical reality. On the other hand, the effect of relativistic features on quantum systems is vital in understanding the underlying foundations of physics. In this work, we study the effects of Unruh acceleration on the quantum steering of a two-qubit system. In particular, we consider the so-called quantum steering ellipsoid and the maximally-steered coherence in a non-inertial frame and find closed-form analytic expressions for the role of the Unruh a…
The set of all qubit states that can be steered to by measurements on a correlated qubit is predicted to form an ellipsoid---called the quantum steering ellipsoid---in the Bloch ball. This ellipsoid provides a simple visual characterisation of the initial 2-qubit state, and various aspects of entanglement are reflected in its geometric properties. We experimentally verify these properties via measurements on many different polarisation-entangled photonic qubit states. Moreover, for pure 3-qubit states, the volumes of the two quantum steering ellipsoids generated by measurements on the first qu…
Quantum steering in a system consisting of a qubit coupled to a single-mode field is explored when classical-like measurements implemented by heterodyne detection schemes that collapse the state of the field on to a coherent state is considered. The quantum steering ellipsoid of the qubit is constructed to visualize the set of states on to which it can be steered using such measurements. In some cases, the steering set does not form an ellipsoid since only heterodyne detection is considered. Evolution of the steering ellipsoid corresponding to joint evolution of the qubit and field under the J…
The quantum steering ellipsoid can be used to visualise two-qubit states, and thus provides a generalisation of the Bloch picture for the single qubit. Recently, a monogamy relation for the volumes of steering ellipsoids has been derived for pure 3-qubit states and shown to be stronger than the celebrated Coffman-Kundu-Wootters (CKW) inequality. We first demonstrate the close connection between this volume monogamy relation and the classification of pure 3-qubit states under stochastic local operations and classical communication (SLOCC). We then show that this monogamy relation does not hold …
The past two decades have witnessed a surge of interest in borrowing tools from quantum information theory to investigate quantum phase transitions (QPTs). The best known examples are entanglement measures whose nonanalyticities at critical points were tied to QPTs in a plethora of physical models. Here, focusing on the XXZ model, we show how QPTs can be revealed through the quantum steering ellipsoid (QSE), which is a geometric tool capable of characterizing both the strength and type of quantum correlations between two subsystems of a compound system. We find that the QSE associated with the…
The effect of a local trace-preserving single-qubit channel on a two-qubit state is investigated in the picture of the quantum steering ellipsoids (QSE). The phenomenon of locally increased quantum correlation is visualized in this picture. We strictly prove that a $B$-side two-qubit discordant state can be locally prepared from a classical state by a trace-preserving channel on qubit $B$ if and only if its QSE of $B$ is a non-radial line segment. For states with higer-dimensional QSEs, the phenomenon of locally increased quantum correlation generally happens when the shape of the QSE is like …
The Separability Problem is approached from the perspective of Ellipsoidal Classification. A Density Operator of dimension N can be represented as a vector in a real vector space of dimension $N^{2}- 1$, whose components are the projections of the matrix onto some selected basis. We suggest a method to test separability, based on successive optimization programs. First, we find the Minimum Volume Covering Ellipsoid that encloses a particular set of properly vectorized bipartite separable states, and then we compute the Euclidean distance of an arbitrary vectorized bipartite Density Operator to…
We investigate the steerability of two-qubit Bell-diagonal states under projective measurements by the steering party. In the simplest nontrivial scenario of two projective measurements, we solve this problem completely by virtue of the connection between the steering problem and the joint-measurement problem. A necessary and sufficient criterion is derived together with a simple geometrical interpretation. Our study shows that a Bell-diagonal state is steerable by two projective measurements iff it violates the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) inequality, in sharp contrast with the strict hi…
We investigate the entanglement, CHSH nonlocality, fully entangled fraction and symmetric extendibility of two-qubit states that have a single maximally mixed marginal. Within this set of states, the steering ellipsoid formalism has recently highlighted an interesting family of so-called 'maximally obese' states. These are found to have extremal quantum correlation properties that are significant in the steering ellipsoid picture and for the study of two-qubit states in general.
Separability problem is a long-standing tough issue in quantum information theory. In this paper, we propose a general method to detect entanglement via arbitrary measurement $\boldsymbol{X}$, by which several novel criteria are established. The new criteria are found incorporate many of the prevailing ones in the literatures. Our method is applicable as well to the steering detection, which possesses a merit of ignoring the knowledge of involved quantum states. A concept of measurement orbit, which plays an important role in the detection of entanglement and steering, is introduced, which enl…
Any two-qubit state can be represented geometrically by a steering ellipsoid inside the Bloch sphere. We extend this approach to represent any block positive two-qubit operator $B$. We derive a novel classification scheme based on the positivity of $\det B$ and $\det B^\mathrm{T_B}$; this shows that any ellipsoid inside the Bloch sphere must represent either a two-qubit state or a two-qubit entanglement witness. We focus on such witnesses and their corresponding ellipsoids, finding that properties such as witness optimality are naturally manifest in this geometric representation.
Certification and quantification of correlations for multipartite states of quantum systems appear to be a central task in quantum information theory. We give here a unitary quantum-mechanical perspective of both entanglement and Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) steering of continuous-variable multimode states. This originates in the Heisenberg uncertainty relations for the canonical quadrature operators of the modes. Correlations of two-party $(N\, \text{vs} \,1)$-mode states are examined by using the variances of a pair of suitable EPR-like observables. It turns out that the uncertainty sum of …
We propose a measure of quantum steerability, namely a convex steering monotone, based on the trace distance between a given assemblage and its corresponding closest assemblage admitting a local-hidden-state (LHS) model. We provide methods to estimate such a quantity, via lower and upper bounds, based on semidefinite programming. One of these upper bounds has a clear geometrical interpretation as a linear function of rescaled Euclidean distances in the Bloch sphere between the normalized quantum states of: (i) a given assemblage and (ii) an LHS assemblage. For a qubit-qubit quantum state, the …
We show that the effects of decoherence on quantum steering ellipsoids can be controlled by a specific reservoir manipulating, in both Markovian and non-Markovian realms. Therefore, the so-called maximal steered coherence could be protected through reservoir engineering implemented by coupling auxiliary qubits to the reservoir.
We derive several results in classical Euclidean elementary geometry using the steering ellipsoid formalism from quantum mechanics. This gives a physically motivated derivation of very non-trivial geometric results, some of which are entirely new. We consider a sphere of radius $r$ contained inside another sphere of radius $R$, with the sphere centres separated by distance $d$. When does there exist a nested tetrahedron circumscribed about the smaller sphere and inscribed in the larger? We derive the Grace-Danielsson inequality $d^2 \leq (R+r)(R-3r)$ as the sole necessary and sufficient condit…
Any two-qubit state can be represented, geometrically, as an ellipsoid with a certain size and a center located within the Bloch sphere of one of the qubits. Points of this ellipsoid represent the post-measurement states when the other qubit is measured. Based on the most demolition concept in the definition of quantum discord, we study the amount of demolition when the two post-measurement states, represented as two points on the steering ellipsoid, have the most distinguishability. We use trace distance as a measure of distinguishability and obtain the maximum distinguishability for some cla…
Temporal steering of entanglement decay with single-shot control
Raman Research Institute（拉曼研究所）；QuSyn Technologies（QuSyn科技有限公司）；School of Physical Sciences, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science（印度科学促进协会物理科学学院）；Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Calgary（卡尔加里大学物理与天文学系）；Department of Physics and Astronomy, Louisiana State University（路易斯安那州立大学物理与天文学系）
Temporal steering of entanglement decay with single-shot control
Raman Research Institute（拉曼研究所）；QuSyn Technologies（QuSyn科技有限公司）；School of Physical Sciences, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science（印度科学促进协会物理科学学院）；Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Calgary（卡尔加里大学物理与天文学系）；Department of Physics and Astronomy, Louisiana State University（路易斯安那州立大学物理与天文学系）
Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) entanglement introduced in 1935 deals with two particles that are entangled in their positions and momenta. Here we report the first experimental demonstration of EPR position-momentum entanglement of narrowband photon pairs generated from cold atoms. By using two-photon quantum ghost imaging and ghost interference, we demonstrate explicitly that the narrowband photon pairs violate the separability criterion, confirming EPR entanglement. We further demonstrate continuous variable EPR steering for positions and momenta of the two photons. Our new source of EPR-enta…
Among various definitions of quantum correlations, quantum discord has attracted considerable attention. To find analytical expression of quantum discord is an intractable task. In this paper, we discuss thoroughly the case of two-qubit rank-two states. An analytical expression for the quantum discord is obtained by means of Koashi-Winter relation. A geometric picture is demonstrated by means of quantum steering ellipsoid. We point out that in this case the optimal measurement is indeed the von Neumann measurement, which is usually used in the study of quantum discord. However, for some two-qu…
For a bipartite entangled state shared by two observers, Alice and Bob, Alice can affect the post-measured states left to Bob by choosing different measurements on her half. Alice can convince Bob that she has such an ability if and only if the unnormalized postmeasured states cannot be described by a local-hidden-state (LHS) model. In this case, the state is termed steerable from Alice to Bob. By converting the problem to construct LHS models for two-qubit Bell diagonal states to the one for Werner states, we obtain the optimal models given by Jevtic \textit{et al.} [J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 32, A4…
We demonstrate a hierarchy of various classes of quantum correlations on experimentally prepared two-qubit Werner-like states with controllable white noise. Werner states, which are white-noise-affected Bell states, are prototypal examples for studying such a hierarchy as a function of the amount of white noise. We experimentally generated Werner states and their generalizations, i.e., partially entangled pure states affected by white noise. These states enabled us to study the hierarchy of the following classes of correlations: separability, entanglement, steering in three- and two-measuremen…
The Inverse Eigenvalue Problem for Partial Transposes of Two-Qubit States
National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and School of Physics, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University（南京大学固体微结构物理实验室和物理学院，先进微结构协同创新中心）
