Frontiers of quantum physics

Abstract:

Ordering physical states is the key to quantifying some physical property of the states uniquely. Bipartite pure entangled states are totally ordered under local operations and classical communication (LOCC) in the asymptotic limit and uniquely quantified by the well-known entropy of entanglement. However, we show that mixed entangled states are partially ordered under LOCC even in the asymptotic limit. Therefore, non-uniqueness of entanglement measure is understood on the basis of an operational notion of asymptotic convertibility.

Abstract:

The relationship between the mean-field approximations in various interacting models of statistical physics and measures of classical and quantum correlations is explored. We present a method that allows us to find an upper bound for the total amount of correlations (and hence entanglement) in a physical system in thermal equilibrium at some temperature in terms of its free energy and internal energy. This method is first illustrated by using two qubits interacting through the Heisenberg coupling, where entanglement and correlations can be computed exactly. It is then applied to the one-dimensional (1D) Ising model in a transverse magnetic field, for which entanglement and correlations cannot be obtained by exact methods. We analyse the behaviour of correlations in various regimes and identify critical regions, comparing them with already known results. Finally, we present a general discussion of the effects of entanglement on the macroscopic, thermodynamical features of solid-state systems. In particular, we exploit the fact that a d-dimensional quantum system in thermal equilibrium can be made to correspond to a (d + 1)-dimensional classical system in equilibrium to substitute all entanglement for classical correlations.