Correlacões quânticas: medidas e simetrias

Abstract

In this thesis, we explore two sort of quantum correlations: entanglement and quantum discord. We present a geometric method to identify and measure the degree of entanglement based on symmetries of vectors and matrices associated with the two-qubits density operator of quantum states. We introduce a new basis of parameters describing the density operator, and this procedure allows us to establish the Peres-Horodecki separability criterion in terms of squared distances that obey the Minkowski metric, giving a more general interpretation of this criterion as well as building a quantifier of entanglement. In this method, if the squared distance is of the kind timelike, i.e. non-negative, the two-qubit system is separable. Otherwise, if it is spacelike, namely, the squared distance is negative, the two qubits are entangled. Such squared distances are invariant by unitary transformations and can be represented graphically in a hyperbolic parameterized phase space, allowing a suitable graphic representation, i.e., in a phase space where the system trajectories can be drawn. The method is generalized to a larger class of states having at most seven independent parameters, the D-7 manifold class. Using group theory methods we classify these states according to the symmetries of seven generators, where one of them commutes with the others. We illustrate the method and the theory by presenting several two-qubit systems found in the literature. This same notation is used to calculate the quantum discord for states whose 4 × 4 matrices belong to the D-7 manifold class, providing a more explicit condition of minimization of entropy. We calculate the dissipative dynamics of two-qubits quantum discord under local noisy environments. Choosing initial conditions that manifest the so-called sudden death of entanglement, we compare the dynamics of entanglement with that of quantum discord and we show that in cases where the entanglement suddenly disappears, quantum discord vanishes only in the asymptotic limit.