Theory of a pair of quantum bits. (Q5943128)

In this paper we present a thorough study of the theory of a pair of qubits, whose Hilbert space can be identified with \(\mathbb C^2 \otimes \mathbb C^2\). Given an Hermitian operator \(\rho\) of trace 1 in \(\mathbb C^2 \otimes \mathbb C^2\) we focus on the following problems: Problem 1: Find conditions that guarantee that rgr is a state, that is, positive semidefinite. Problem 2: Find conditions that guarantee that a given state rgr is separable, or that \(\rho\) is a convex combination of products of one-particle states. The language we develop for our investigation makes use of the observation that \(\mathbb C^2 \otimes \mathbb C^2\) carries representations of the special unitary group \(\mathrm{SU}(2)\) in two dimensions and of the direct product of this group by itself. We introduce a new type of observable called Bell observable (section 5) and a new measure of entanglement called concurrence, which is closely related to the concurrence introduced by \textit{W. K. Wootters} [Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 2245--2248 (1998)] (section 8). The work has been inspired by the works of Wootters [Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 5022--5025 (1997)] and members of the Horodecki family [cf. \textit{R. Horodecki} et al. , Phys. Rev. A 54, 1838--1843 (1996); M. and P. and R. Horodecki , Phys. Lett. A 223, 1--8 (1996; Zbl 1037.81501); Phys. Lett. A 222, 21--25 (1996; Zbl 0972.81507)] and reproduces some of their results.