Does decoherence mean the loss of entanglement?

In summary, the conversation discusses a study of decoherence in a system of two entangled photons in a 12-dimensional space. The final density matrix has a strong decoherence with a trace of 1 and a trace squared of 0.5. The main focus is on measuring the entanglement of the system, with the use of relative entropy of entanglement (REE) as the primary quantity. However, there is a question about the relationship between coherence and entanglement, and whether there are other suitable quantities that can measure entanglement in a mixed high-dimensional system.
  • #1
Haorong Wu
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TL;DR Summary
If a pure densitry matrix becomes mixed, does it lose some entanglement?
Hello, there. I am studying a model for decoherence of two entangled photons. The space for the first photon is 2 dimensional, while that for the other one is 6 dimensional. In total, the system will be in a 12 dimensional space.

Initially, they are set to one of the Bell states, such as ##\left | 1,-1 \right > + \left | -1,1 \right>##, normalization omitted. The first photon can only take states 1 or -1, while the other photon can be in states ##\pm 3, \pm 2, \pm 1##.

Now, I have the final density matrix whose ##tr(\rho)=1## and ##tr(\rho^2)\approx 0.5## that means the decoherence is quite strong.

I want to measure the entanglement of the system. I go through couples of papers and I find that almost no available quantities can be used in a mixed system with high dimensions except relative entropy of entanglement (REE), defined by $$E_R(\rho)=\min _{\sigma \in \rm{Sep}}\rm{tr}\rho (\log \rho- \log \sigma ) $$where Sep denotes all separable states. The program shows that the initial density matrix has a REE of 1, and 0.9485 for the final density matrix.

It seems that the entanglement is almost intact. But my advisor said it is not reasonable since the system is almost decoherent.

But I am still wondering is there any direct link between coherence and entanglement? Or, do you know any other suitable quantities that can measure entanglement for a mixed high-dimensional system?

Thanks!
 
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  • #2
Haorong Wu said:
Or, do you know any other suitable quantities that can measure entanglement for a mixed high-dimensional system?
There are many, see e.g. the review
https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0504163
 

FAQ: Does decoherence mean the loss of entanglement?

What is decoherence?

Decoherence is a process in quantum mechanics where a quantum system interacts with its surrounding environment, causing the system to lose its quantum properties and behave more like a classical system.

What is entanglement?

Entanglement is a phenomenon in quantum mechanics where two or more particles become connected in such a way that the state of one particle cannot be described independently of the state of the other particle, even when they are physically separated.

Does decoherence always result in the loss of entanglement?

No, decoherence does not always result in the loss of entanglement. In some cases, decoherence can actually create entanglement between a quantum system and its environment.

How does decoherence affect quantum computing?

Decoherence is a major challenge in quantum computing as it can cause errors and disruptions in the calculations being performed. To combat this, quantum computers use techniques such as error correction to mitigate the effects of decoherence.

Can entanglement be restored after decoherence?

In most cases, entanglement cannot be restored after decoherence has occurred. However, there are some techniques such as quantum error correction that can help to preserve and restore entanglement in certain situations.

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