Quantumentanglement

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Quantumentanglementisaphysicalphenomenonthatoccurswhen
pairsorgroupsofparticlesaregeneratedorinteractinwayssuchthat
thequantumstateofeachparticlecannotbedescribedindependently
instead,aquantumstatemaybegivenforthesystemasawhole.
Measurementsofphysicalpropertiessuchasposition,momentum,
spin,polarization,etc.,performedonentangledparticlesarefoundto
beappropriatelycorrelated.Forexample,ifapairofparticlesis
generatedinsuchawaythattheirtotalspinisknowntobezero,and
oneparticleisfoundtohaveclockwisespinonacertainaxis,thenthe
spinoftheotherparticle,measuredonthesameaxis,willbefoundto
becounterclockwisebecauseofthenatureofquantummeasurement.
However,thisbehaviorgivesrisetoparadoxicaleffects:any
measurementofapropertyofaparticlecanbeseenasactingonthat
particle(e.g.,bycollapsinganumberofsuperposedstates)andinthe
caseofentangledparticles,suchactionmustbeontheentangled
systemasawhole.Itthusappearsthatoneparticleofanentangledpair
"knows"whatmeasurementhasbeenperformedontheother,andwith
whatoutcome,eventhoughthereisnoknownmeansforsuch
informationtobecommunicatedbetweentheparticles,whichatthe
timeofmeasurementmaybeseparatedbyarbitrarilylargedistances.

Spontaneousparametricdown
conversionprocesscansplit
photonsintotypeIIphotonpairs
withmutuallyperpendicular
polarization.

Suchphenomenawerethesubjectofa1935paperbyAlbertEinstein,BorisPodolsky,andNathanRosen,[1]
andseveralpapersbyErwinSchrdingershortlythereafter,[2][3]describingwhatcametobeknownasthe
EPRparadox.Einsteinandothersconsideredsuchbehaviortobeimpossible,asitviolatedthelocalrealist
viewofcausality(Einsteinreferringtoitas"spookyactionatadistance")[4]andarguedthattheaccepted
formulationofquantummechanicsmustthereforebeincomplete.Later,however,thecounterintuitive
predictionsofquantummechanicswereverifiedexperimentally.[5]Experimentshavebeenperformed
involvingmeasuringthepolarizationorspinofentangledparticlesindifferentdirections,whichby
producingviolationsofBell'sinequalitydemonstratestatisticallythatthelocalrealistviewcannotbe
correct.Thishasbeenshowntooccurevenwhenthemeasurementsareperformedmorequicklythanlight
couldtravelbetweenthesitesofmeasurement:thereisnolightspeedorslowerinfluencethatcanpass
betweentheentangledparticles.[6]Recentexperimentshavemeasuredentangledparticleswithinlessthan
oneonehundredthofapercentofthetraveltimeoflightbetweenthem.[7]Accordingtotheformalismof
quantumtheory,theeffectofmeasurementhappensinstantly.[8][9]Itisnotpossible,however,tousethis
effecttotransmitclassicalinformationatfasterthanlightspeeds[10](seeFasterthanlightQuantum
mechanics).
Quantumentanglementisanareaofextremelyactiveresearchbythephysicscommunity,anditseffects
havebeendemonstratedexperimentallywithphotons,[11][12][13][14]electrons,moleculesthesizeof
buckyballs,[15][16]andevensmalldiamonds.[17][18][19][20]Researchisalsofocusedontheutilizationof
entanglementeffectsincommunicationandcomputation.

History
Thecounterintuitivepredictionsofquantummechanicsabout
stronglycorrelatedsystemswerefirstdiscussedbyAlbertEinstein
in1935,inajointpaperwithBorisPodolskyandNathanRosen.[1]
Inthisstudy,theyformulatedtheEPRparadox(Einstein,Podolsky,
Rosenparadox),athoughtexperimentthatattemptedtoshowthat
quantummechanicaltheorywasincomplete.Theywrote:"Weare
thusforcedtoconcludethatthequantummechanicaldescriptionof
physicalrealitygivenbywavefunctionsisnotcomplete."[1]
However,theydidnotcointhewordentanglement,nordidthey
generalizethespecialpropertiesofthestatetheyconsidered.
FollowingtheEPRpaper,ErwinSchrdingerwrotealetter(in
German)toEinsteininwhichheusedthewordVerschrnkung
(translatedbyhimselfasentanglement)"todescribethecorrelations
May4,1935NewYorkTimes
betweentwoparticlesthatinteractandthenseparate,asintheEPR
articleheadlineregardingthe
experiment."[21]Heshortlythereafterpublishedaseminalpaper
imminentEPRpaper
defininganddiscussingthenotion,andtermingit"entanglement."
Inthepaperherecognizedtheimportanceoftheconcept,and
stated:[2]"Iwouldnotcall[entanglement]onebutratherthecharacteristictraitofquantummechanics,
theonethatenforcesitsentiredeparturefromclassicallinesofthought."
LikeEinstein,Schrdingerwasdissatisfiedwiththeconceptofentanglement,becauseitseemedto
violatethespeedlimitonthetransmissionofinformationimplicitinthetheoryofrelativity.[22]Einstein
laterfamouslyderidedentanglementas"spukhafteFernwirkung"[23]or"spookyactionatadistance."
TheEPRpapergeneratedsignificantinterestamongphysicistsandinspiredmuchdiscussionaboutthe
foundationsofquantummechanics(perhapsmostfamouslyBohm'sinterpretationofquantum
mechanics),butproducedrelativelylittleotherpublishedwork.So,despitetheinterest,theweakpoint
inEPR'sargumentwasnotdiscovereduntil1964,whenJohnStewartBellprovedthatoneoftheirkey
assumptions,theprincipleoflocality,whichunderliesthekindofhiddenvariablesinterpretationhoped
forbyEPR,wasmathematicallyinconsistentwiththepredictionsofquantumtheory.Specifically,he
demonstratedanupperlimit,seeninBell'sinequality,regardingthestrengthofcorrelationsthatcanbe
producedinanytheoryobeyinglocalrealism,andheshowedthatquantumtheorypredictsviolationsof
thislimitforcertainentangledsystems.[24]Hisinequalityisexperimentallytestable,andtherehavebeen
numerousrelevantexperiments,startingwiththepioneeringworkofFreedmanandClauserin1972[25]
andAspect'sexperimentsin1982.[26]Theyhaveallshownagreementwithquantummechanicsrather
thantheprincipleoflocalrealism.However,theissueisnotfinallysettled,aseachoftheseexperimental
testshasleftopenatleastoneloopholebywhichitispossibletoquestionthevalidityoftheresults.
TheworkofBellraisedthepossibilityofusingthesesuperstrongcorrelationsasaresourcefor
communication.Itledtothediscoveryofquantumkeydistributionprotocols,mostfamouslyBB84by
BennetandBrassard[27]andE91byArturEkert.[28]AlthoughBB84doesnotuseentanglement,Ekert's
protocolusestheviolationofaBell'sinequalityasaproofofsecurity.

Concept
Meaningofentanglement
Anentangledsystemisdefinedtobeonewhosequantumstatecannotbefactoredasaproductofstates
ofitslocalconstituents(e.g.,individualparticles).Ifentangled,oneconstituentcannotbefullydescribed
withoutconsideringtheother(s).Notethatthestateofacompositesystemisalwaysexpressibleasa
sum,orsuperposition,ofproductsofstatesoflocalconstituentsitisentangledifthissumnecessarily
hasmorethanoneterm.
Quantumsystemscanbecomeentangledthroughvarioustypesofinteractions.Forsomewaysinwhich
entanglementmaybeachievedforexperimentalpurposes,seethesectionbelowonmethods.
Entanglementisbrokenwhentheentangledparticlesdecoherethroughinteractionwiththeenvironment
forexample,whenameasurementismade.[29]
Asanexampleofentanglement:asubatomicparticledecaysintoanentangledpairofotherparticles.
Thedecayeventsobeythevariousconservationlaws,andasaresult,themeasurementoutcomesofone
daughterparticlemustbehighlycorrelatedwiththemeasurementoutcomesoftheotherdaughter
particle(sothatthetotalmomenta,angularmomenta,energy,andsoforthremainsroughlythesame
beforeandafterthisprocess).Forinstance,aspinzeroparticlecoulddecayintoapairofspin
particles.Sincethetotalspinbeforeandafterthisdecaymustbezero(conservationofangular
momentum),wheneverthefirstparticleismeasuredtobespinuponsomeaxis,theother(when
measuredonthesameaxis)isalwaysfoundtobespindown.(Thisiscalledthespinanticorrelated
caseandifthepriorprobabilitiesformeasuringeachspinareequal,thepairissaidtobeinthesinglet
state.)
Thespecialpropertyofentanglementcanbebetterobservedifweseparatethesaidtwoparticles.Let's
putoneofthemintheWhiteHouseinWashingtonandtheotherinUCBerkeley(thinkaboutthisasa
thoughtexperiment,notanactualone).Now,ifwemeasureoneoftheseparticlesusingacertaincriteria
(say,forexample,spin),getaresult,andthenmeasuretheotherparticleusingthesamecriteria(along
thesameaxisforspin),wesurprisinglyfindthattheresultofthemeasurementofthefirstparticlewill
determinetheresultofthemeasurementofthesecondparticle,inthattheywillbeoppositeintheir
values,setagainstallthepossibleresultvaluesforthemeasurementcriteria.Butwhathappensnextis
evenmoresurprising.

Paradox
Theparadoxhereisthatameasurementmadeoneitheroftheparticlesapparentlycollapsesthestateof
theentireentangledsystemanddoessoinstantaneously,beforeanyinformationaboutthe
measurementcouldhavereachedtheotherparticle(assumingthatinformationcannottravelfasterthan
light).Inthequantumformalism,theresultofaspinmeasurementononeoftheparticlesisacollapse
intoastateinwhicheachparticlehasadefinitespin(eitherupordown)alongtheaxisofmeasurement.
Theoutcomeistakentoberandom,witheachpossibilityhavingaprobabilityof50%.However,ifboth
spinsaremeasuredalongthesameaxis,theyarefoundtobeanticorrelated.Thismeansthattherandom
outcomeofthemeasurementmadeononeparticleseemstohavebeentransmittedtotheother,sothatit
canmakethe"rightchoice"whenitismeasured.Thedistanceandtimingofthemeasurementscanbe
chosensoastomaketheintervalbetweenthetwomeasurementsspacelike,i.e.,fromanyofthetwo
measuringeventstotheotheramessagewouldhavetotravelfasterthanlight.Then,accordingtothe
principlesofspecialrelativity,itisnotinfactpossibleforanyinformationtotravelbetweentwosuch
measuringeventsitisnotevenpossibletosaywhichofthemeasurementscamefirst,asthiswould

dependontheinertialsystemoftheobserver.Thereforethecorrelationbetweenthetwomeasurements
cannotappropriatelybeexplainedasonemeasurementdeterminingtheother:differentobserverswould
disagreeabouttheroleofcauseandeffect.
Inconclusion,theresultshowsthatitisquiteimpossibleforthemeasurementofoneparticle'sproperties
todeterminetheother's,eventhoughitseemsthatwayatfirst,thereasonforthisbeingtheassumption
thatthespeedoflightistheuniversalspeedlimit,andnothingcantravelfasterthanthatspeed.

Hiddenvariablestheory
Apossibleresolutiontotheparadoxmightbetoassumethatthestateoftheparticlescontainssome
hiddenvariables,whosevalueseffectivelydetermine,rightfromthemomentofseparation,whatthe
outcomesofthespinmeasurementsaregoingtobe.Thiswouldmeanthateachparticlecarriesallthe
requiredinformationwithit,andnothingneedstobetransmittedfromoneparticletotheotheratthe
timeofmeasurement.ItwasoriginallybelievedbyEinsteinandothers(seetheprevioussection)that
thiswastheonlywayout,andthereforethattheacceptedquantummechanicaldescription(witha
randommeasurementoutcome)mustbeincomplete.(Infactsimilarparadoxescanariseevenwithout
entanglement:thepositionofasingleparticleisspreadoutoverspace,andtwowidelyseparated
detectorsattemptingtodetecttheparticleintwodifferentplacesmustinstantaneouslyattainappropriate
correlation,sothattheydonotbothdetecttheparticle.)

ViolationsofBell'sinequality
Thehiddenvariablestheoryfails,however,whenweconsidermeasurementsofthespinofentangled
particlesalongdifferentaxes(forexample,alonganyofthreeaxeswhichmakeanglesof120degrees).
Ifalargenumberofpairsofsuchmeasurementsaremade(onalargenumberofpairsofentangled
particles),thenstatistically,ifthelocalrealistorhiddenvariablesviewwerecorrect,theresultswould
alwayssatisfyBell'sinequality.AnumberofexperimentshaveshowninpracticethatBell'sinequalityis
notsatisfied.However,allexperimentshaveloopholeproblems.[30][31]Whenmeasurementsofthe
entangledparticlesaremadeinmovingrelativisticreferenceframes,inwhicheachmeasurement(inits
ownrelativistictimeframe)occursbeforetheother,themeasurementresultsremaincorrelated.[32][33]
Thefundamentalissueaboutmeasuringspinalongdifferentaxesisthatthesemeasurementscannothave
definitevaluesatthesametimetheyareincompatibleinthesensethatthesemeasurements'maximum
simultaneousprecisionisconstrainedbytheuncertaintyprinciple.Thisiscontrarytowhatisfoundin
classicalphysics,whereanynumberofpropertiescanbemeasuredsimultaneouslywitharbitrary
accuracy.IthasbeenprovenmathematicallythatcompatiblemeasurementscannotshowBell
inequalityviolatingcorrelations,[34]andthusentanglementisafundamentallynonclassical
phenomenon.

Othertypesofexperiments
Ina2012experiment,"delayedchoiceentanglementswapping"wasusedtodecidewhethertwo
particleswereentangledornotaftertheyhadalreadybeenmeasured.[35]
Ina2013experiment,entanglementswappinghasbeenusedtocreateentanglementbetweenphotons
thatnevercoexistedintime,thusdemonstratingthat"thenonlocalityofquantummechanics,as
manifestedbyentanglement,doesnotapplyonlytoparticleswithspacelikeseparation,butalsoto

particleswithtimelike[i.e.,temporal]separation".[36]Whatthismeansisthattwoparticlescanbe
entangledeveniftheyaredistancedfromeachotherintime.Twoentangledparticleswillthusshowthe
propertyofentanglementeveniftheyaremeasuredintwodifferenttimes.
Inthreeindependentexperimentsitwasshownthatclassicallycommunicatedseparablequantumstates
canbeusedtocarryentangledstates.[37]
InAugust2014,researcherGabrielaBarretoLemosandteamwereableto"takepictures"ofobjects
usingphotonsthathavenotinteractedwiththesubjects,butwereentangledwithphotonsthatdid
interactwithsuchobjects.Lemos,fromtheUniversityofVienna,isconfidentthatthisnewquantum
imagingtechniquecouldfindapplicationwherelowlightimagingisimperative,infieldslikebiological
ormedicalimaging.[38]

Mysteryoftime
Thereexistphysicistswhosaythattimeisanemergentphenomenonthatisasideeffectofquantum
entanglement.[39][40]TheWheelerDeWittequationthatcombinesgeneralrelativityandquantum
mechanicsbyleavingouttimealtogetherwasintroducedinthe1960sanditwastakenupagainin
1983,whenthetheoristsDonPageandWilliamWoottersmadeasolutionbasedonthequantum
phenomenonofentanglement.PageandWoottersarguedthatentanglementcanbeusedtomeasure
time.[41]
In2013,attheIstitutoNazionalediRicercaMetrologica(INRIM)inTurin,Italy,EkaterinaMoreva,
togetherwithGiorgioBrida,MarcoGramegna,VittorioGiovannetti,LorenzoMaccone,andMarco
GenoveseperformedthefirstexperimentaltestofPageandWootters'ideas.Theirresulthasbeen
interpretedtoconfirmthattimeisanemergentphenomenonforinternalobserversbutabsentfor
externalobserversoftheuniverse.[41]

Sourceforthearrowoftime
PhysicistSethLloydsaysthatquantumuncertaintygivesrisetoentanglement,theputativesourceofthe
arrowoftime.AccordingtoLloyd"Thearrowoftimeisanarrowofincreasingcorrelations."[42]The
approachtoentanglementwouldbefromtheperspectiveofthecausalarrowoftime,withthe
assumptionthatthecauseofthemeasurementofoneparticledeterminestheeffectoftheresultofthe
otherparticle'smeasurement.

Nonlocalityandhiddenvariables
Thereismuchconfusionaboutthemeaningofentanglement,nonlocalityandhiddenvariablesandhow
theyrelatetoeachother.Asdescribedabove,entanglementisanexperimentallyverifiedandaccepted
propertyofnature,whichhascriticalimplicationsfortheinterpretationsofquantummechanics.The
questionbecomes,"Howcanoneaccountforsomethingthatwasatonepointindefinitewithregardto
itsspin(orwhateverisinthiscasethesubjectofinvestigation)suddenlybecomingdefiniteinthat
regardeventhoughnophysicalinteractionwiththesecondobjectoccurred,and,ifthetwoobjectsare
sufficientlyfarseparated,couldnotevenhavehadthetimeneededforsuchaninteractiontoproceed
fromthefirsttothesecondobject?"[43]Thelatterquestioninvolvestheissueoflocality,i.e.,whetherfor
achangetooccurinsomethingtheagentofchangehastobeinphysicalcontact(atleastviasome

intermediarysuchasafieldforce)withthethingthatchanges.Studyofentanglementbringsintosharp
focusthedilemmabetweenlocalityandthecompletenessorlackofcompletenessofquantum
mechanics.
Bell'stheoremandrelatedresultsruleoutalocalrealisticexplanationforquantummechanics(one
whichobeystheprincipleoflocalitywhilealsoascribingdefinitevaluestoquantumobservables).
However,inotherinterpretations,theexperimentsthatdemonstratetheapparentnonlocalitycanalsobe
describedinlocalterms:Ifeachdistantobserverregardstheotherasaquantumsystem,communication
betweenthetwomustthenbetreatedasameasurementprocess,andthiscommunicationisstrictly
local.[44]Inparticular,intheManyworldsinterpretation,theunderlyingdescriptionisfullylocal.[45]
Moregenerally,thequestionoflocalityinquantumphysicsisextraordinarilysubtleandsometimes
hingesonpreciselyhowitisdefined.
Inthemediaandpopularscience,quantumnonlocalityisoftenportrayedasbeingequivalentto
entanglement.Whileitistruethatabipartitequantumstatemustbeentangledinorderforittoproduce
nonlocalcorrelations,thereexistentangledstatesthatdonotproducesuchcorrelations.Awellknown
exampleofthisistheWernerstatethatisentangledforcertainvaluesof
,butcanalwaysbe
[46]
describedusinglocalhiddenvariables. Inshort,entanglementofatwopartystateisnecessarybut
notsufficientforthatstatetobenonlocal.Moreover,itwasshownthat,forarbitrarynumberofparty,
thereexiststatesthataregenuinelyentangledbutadmitsafullylocalstrategy.Itisimportantto
recognizethatentanglementismorecommonlyviewedasanalgebraicconcept,notedforbeinga
precedenttononlocalityaswellastoquantumteleportationandtosuperdensecoding,whereasnon
localityisdefinedaccordingtoexperimentalstatisticsandismuchmoreinvolvedwiththefoundations
andinterpretationsofquantummechanics.

Quantummechanicalframework
Thefollowingsubsectionsareforthosewithagoodworkingknowledgeoftheformal,mathematical
descriptionofquantummechanics,includingfamiliaritywiththeformalismandtheoreticalframework
developedinthearticles:braketnotationandmathematicalformulationofquantummechanics.

Purestates
ConsidertwononinteractingsystemsAandB,withrespectiveHilbertspacesHAandHB.TheHilbert
spaceofthecompositesystemisthetensorproduct

Ifthefirstsystemisinstate

andthesecondinstate

,thestateofthecompositesystemis

Statesofthecompositesystemwhichcanberepresentedinthisformarecalledseparablestates,or(in
thesimplestcase)productstates.
Notallstatesareseparablestates(andthusproductstates).Fixabasis
forHB.ThemostgeneralstateinHAHBisoftheform
.

forHAandabasis

Thisstateisseparableifthereexistvectors
sothat
yielding
and
Itisinseparableifforanyvectors
atleastforonepairofcoordinates
we
have
Ifastateisinseparable,itiscalledanentangledstate.
Forexample,giventwobasisvectors
followingisanentangledstate:

ofHAandtwobasisvectors

ofHB,the

Ifthecompositesystemisinthisstate,itisimpossibletoattributetoeithersystemAorsystemBa
definitepurestate.AnotherwaytosaythisisthatwhilethevonNeumannentropyofthewholestateis
zero(asitisforanypurestate),theentropyofthesubsystemsisgreaterthanzero.Inthissense,the
systemsare"entangled".Thishasspecificempiricalramificationsforinterferometry.[47]Itisworthwhile
tonotethattheaboveexampleisoneoffourBellstates,whichare(maximally)entangledpurestates
(purestatesoftheHAHBspace,butwhichcannotbeseparatedintopurestatesofeachHAand
HB).
NowsupposeAliceisanobserverforsystemA,andBobisanobserverforsystemB.Ifintheentangled
stategivenaboveAlicemakesameasurementinthe
eigenbasisofA,therearetwopossible
[48]
outcomes,occurringwithequalprobability:
1. Alicemeasures0,andthestateofthesystemcollapsesto
2. Alicemeasures1,andthestateofthesystemcollapsesto

.
.

Iftheformeroccurs,thenanysubsequentmeasurementperformedbyBob,inthesamebasis,will
alwaysreturn1.Ifthelatteroccurs,(Alicemeasures1)thenBob'smeasurementwillreturn0with
certainty.Thus,systemBhasbeenalteredbyAliceperformingalocalmeasurementonsystemA.This
remainstrueevenifthesystemsAandBarespatiallyseparated.ThisisthefoundationoftheEPR
paradox.
TheoutcomeofAlice'smeasurementisrandom.Alicecannotdecidewhichstatetocollapsethe
compositesysteminto,andthereforecannottransmitinformationtoBobbyactingonhersystem.
Causalityisthuspreserved,inthisparticularscheme.Forthegeneralargument,seenocommunication
theorem.

Ensembles
Asmentionedabove,astateofaquantumsystemisgivenbyaunitvectorinaHilbertspace.More
generally,ifonehasalargenumberofcopiesofthesamesystem,thenthestateofthisensembleis
describedbyadensitymatrix,whichisapositivesemidefinitematrix,oratraceclasswhenthestate
spaceisinfinitedimensional,andhastrace1.Again,bythespectraltheorem,suchamatrixtakesthe
generalform:

wherethewiarepositivevaluedprobabilities(theysumupto1),thevectorsiareunitvectors,andin
theinfinitedimensionalcase,wewouldtaketheclosureofsuchstatesinthetracenorm.Wecan
interpretasrepresentinganensemblewherewiistheproportionoftheensemblewhosestatesare

Whenamixedstatehasrank1,itthereforedescribesapureensemble.Whenthereislessthantotal
informationaboutthestateofaquantumsystemweneeddensitymatricestorepresentthestate.
Experimentally,amixedensemblemightberealizedasfollows.Considera"blackbox"apparatusthat
spitselectronstowardsanobserver.Theelectrons'Hilbertspacesareidentical.Theapparatusmight
produceelectronsthatareallinthesamestateinthiscase,theelectronsreceivedbytheobserverare
thenapureensemble.However,theapparatuscouldproduceelectronsindifferentstates.Forexample,it
couldproducetwopopulationsofelectrons:onewithstate
withspinsalignedinthepositivez
direction,andtheotherwithstate
withspinsalignedinthenegativeydirection.Generally,thisis
amixedensemble,astherecanbeanynumberofpopulations,eachcorrespondingtoadifferentstate.
Followingthedefinitionabove,forabipartitecompositesystem,mixedstatesarejustdensitymatrices
onHAHB.Thatis,ithasthegeneralform

wherethewiarepositivelyvaluedprobabilities,

,andthevectorsareunitvectors.Thisis

selfadjointandpositiveandhastrace1.
Extendingthedefinitionofseparabilityfromthepurecase,wesaythatamixedstateisseparableifit
canbewrittenas[49]:131132

wherethewiarepositivelyvaluedprobabilitiesandthe 'sand 'sarethemselvesmixedstates

(densityoperators)onthesubsystemsAandBrespectively.Inotherwords,astateisseparableifitisa
probabilitydistributionoveruncorrelatedstates,orproductstates.Bywritingthedensitymatricesas
sumsofpureensemblesandexpanding,wemayassumewithoutlossofgeneralitythat and are
themselvespureensembles.Astateisthensaidtobeentangledifitisnotseparable.
Ingeneral,findingoutwhetherornotamixedstateisentangledisconsidereddifficult.Thegeneral
bipartitecasehasbeenshowntobeNPhard.[50]Forthe22and23cases,anecessaryand
sufficientcriterionforseparabilityisgivenbythefamousPositivePartialTranspose(PPT)condition.[51]

Reduceddensitymatrices
TheideaofareduceddensitymatrixwasintroducedbyPaulDiracin1930.[52]Considerasabove
systemsAandBeachwithaHilbertspaceHA,HB.Letthestateofthecompositesystembe

Asindicatedabove,ingeneralthereisnowaytoassociateapurestatetothecomponentsystemA.
However,itstillispossibletoassociateadensitymatrix.Let
.
whichistheprojectionoperatorontothisstate.ThestateofAisthepartialtraceof overthebasisof

whichistheprojectionoperatorontothisstate.ThestateofAisthepartialtraceofToverthebasisof
systemB:

AissometimescalledthereduceddensitymatrixofonsubsystemA.Colloquially,we"traceout"
systemBtoobtainthereduceddensitymatrixonA.
Forexample,thereduceddensitymatrixofAfortheentangledstate

discussedaboveis

Thisdemonstratesthat,asexpected,thereduceddensitymatrixforanentangledpureensembleisa
mixedensemble.Alsonotsurprisingly,thedensitymatrixofAforthepureproductstate
discussedaboveis

Ingeneral,abipartitepurestateisentangledifandonlyifitsreducedstatesaremixedratherthanpure.

Twoapplicationsthatusethem
Reduceddensitymatriceswereexplicitlycalculatedindifferentspinchainswithuniquegroundstate.
AnexampleistheonedimensionalAKLTspinchain:[53]thegroundstatecanbedividedintoablock
andanenvironment.Thereduceddensitymatrixoftheblockisproportionaltoaprojectortoa
degenerategroundstateofanotherHamiltonian.
ThereduceddensitymatrixalsowasevaluatedforXYspinchains,whereithasfullrank.Itwasproved
thatinthethermodynamiclimit,thespectrumofthereduceddensitymatrixofalargeblockofspinsis
anexactgeometricsequence[54]inthiscase.

Entropy
Inthissection,theentropyofamixedstateisdiscussedaswellashowitcanbeviewedasameasureof
quantumentanglement.
Definition
Inclassicalinformationtheory,theShannonentropy,Hisassociatedtoaprobabilitydistribution,
,inthefollowingway:[55]

Sinceamixedstateisaprobabilitydistributionoveranensemble,

Sinceamixedstateisaprobabilitydistributionoveranensemble,
thisleadsnaturallytothedefinitionofthevonNeumannentropy:

Ingeneral,oneusestheBorelfunctionalcalculustocalculateanon
polynomialfunctionsuchaslog2().Ifthenonnegativeoperator
actsonafinitedimensionalHilbertspaceandhaseigenvalues
,log2()turnsouttobenothingmorethanthe
operatorwiththesameeigenvectors,buttheeigenvalues
.TheShannonentropyisthen:
.
Sinceaneventofprobability0shouldnotcontributetotheentropy,
andgiventhat

TheplotofvonNeumannentropy
VsEigenvalueforabipartite2
levelpurestate.Whenthe
eigenvaluehasvalue.5,von
Neumannentropyisata
maximum,correspondingto
maximumentanglement.

theconvention0log(0)=0isadopted.Thisextendstotheinfinitedimensionalcaseaswell:ifhas
spectralresolution

assumethesameconventionwhencalculating

Asinstatisticalmechanics,themoreuncertainty(numberofmicrostates)thesystemshouldpossess,the
largertheentropy.Forexample,theentropyofanypurestateiszero,whichisunsurprisingsincethereis
nouncertaintyaboutasysteminapurestate.Theentropyofanyofthetwosubsystemsoftheentangled
statediscussedaboveislog(2)(whichcanbeshowntobethemaximumentropyfor22mixed
states).
Asameasureofentanglement
Entropyprovidesonetoolwhichcanbeusedtoquantifyentanglement,althoughotherentanglement
measuresexist.[56]Iftheoverallsystemispure,theentropyofonesubsystemcanbeusedtomeasureits
degreeofentanglementwiththeothersubsystems.
Forbipartitepurestates,thevonNeumannentropyofreducedstatesistheuniquemeasureof
entanglementinthesensethatitistheonlyfunctiononthefamilyofstatesthatsatisfiescertainaxioms
requiredofanentanglementmeasure.
ItisaclassicalresultthattheShannonentropyachievesitsmaximumat,andonlyat,theuniform
probabilitydistribution{1/n,...,1/n}.Therefore,abipartitepurestateHAHBissaidtobea
maximallyentangledstateifthereducedstateofisthediagonalmatrix

Formixedstates,thereducedvonNeumannentropyisnottheonlyreasonableentanglementmeasure.
Asanaside,theinformationtheoreticdefinitioniscloselyrelatedtoentropyinthesenseofstatistical
mechanics(comparingthetwodefinitions,wenotethat,inthepresentcontext,itiscustomarytosetthe
Boltzmannconstantk=1).Forexample,bypropertiesoftheBorelfunctionalcalculus,weseethatfor
anyunitaryoperatorU,

Indeed,withoutthisproperty,thevonNeumannentropywouldnotbewelldefined.
Inparticular,Ucouldbethetimeevolutionoperatorofthesystem,i.e.,

whereHistheHamiltonianofthesystem.Heretheentropyisunchanged.
Thereversibilityofaprocessisassociatedwiththeresultingentropychange,i.e.,aprocessisreversible
if,andonlyif,itleavestheentropyofthesysteminvariant.Therefore,themarchofthearrowoftime
towardsthermodynamicequilibriumissimplythegrowingspreadofquantumentanglement.[57]This
providesaconnectionbetweenquantuminformationtheoryandthermodynamics.
Rnyientropyalsocanbeusedasameasureofentanglement.

Entanglementmeasures
Entanglementmeasuresquantifytheamountofentanglementina(oftenviewedasabipartite)quantum
state.Asaforementioned,entanglemententropyisthestandardmeasureofentanglementforpurestates
(butnolongerameasureofentanglementformixedstates).Formixedstates,therearesome
entanglementmeasuresintheliterature[56]andnosingleoneisstandard.
Entanglementcost
Distillableentanglement
Entanglementofformation
Relativeentropyofentanglement
Squashedentanglement
Logarithmicnegativity
Most(butnotall)oftheseentanglementmeasuresreduceforpurestatestoentanglemententropy,and
aredifficult(NPhard)tocompute.[58]

Quantumfieldtheory
TheReehSchliedertheoremofquantumfieldtheoryissometimesseenasananalogueofquantum
entanglement.

Applications
Entanglementhasmanyapplicationsinquantuminformationtheory.Withtheaidofentanglement,
otherwiseimpossibletasksmaybeachieved.
Amongthebestknownapplicationsofentanglementaresuperdensecodingandquantum
teleportation.[59]
Mostresearchersbelievethatentanglementisnecessarytorealizequantumcomputing(althoughthisis
disputedbysome[60]).
Entanglementisusedinsomeprotocolsofquantumcryptography.[61][62]Thisisbecausethe"shared
noise"ofentanglementmakesforanexcellentonetimepad.Moreover,sincemeasurementofeither
memberofanentangledpairdestroystheentanglementtheyshare,entanglementbasedquantum
cryptographyallowsthesenderandreceivertomoreeasilydetectthepresenceofaninterceptor.
Ininterferometry,entanglementisnecessaryforsurpassingthestandardquantumlimitandachievingthe
Heisenberglimit.[63]

Entangledstates
Thereareseveralcanonicalentangledstatesthatappearoftenintheoryandexperiments.
Fortwoqubits,theBellstatesare

.
Thesefourpurestatesareallmaximallyentangled(accordingtotheentropyofentanglement)andform
anorthonormalbasis(linearalgebra)oftheHilbertspaceofthetwoqubits.Theyplayafundamental
roleinBell'stheorem.
ForM>2qubits,theGHZstateis

whichreducestotheBellstate
for
.ThetraditionalGHZstatewasdefinedfor
GHZstatesareoccasionallyextendedtoqudits,i.e.,systemsofdratherthan2dimensions.
AlsoforM>2qubits,therearespinsqueezedstates.[64]Spinsqueezedstatesareaclassofsqueezed
coherentstatessatisfyingcertainrestrictionsontheuncertaintyofspinmeasurements,andare
necessarilyentangled.[65]Spinsqueezedstatesaregoodcandidatesforenhancingprecision
measurementsusingquantumentanglement.[66]
Fortwobosonicmodes,aNOONstateis

ThisislikeaBellstate
exceptthebasiskets0and1havebeenreplacedwith"theNphotonsarein
onemode"and"theNphotonsareintheothermode".
Finally,therealsoexisttwinFockstatesforbosonicmodes,whichcanbecreatedbyfeedingaFock
stateintotwoarmsleadingtoabeamsplitter.TheyarethesumofmultipleofNOONstates,andcan
usedtoachievetheHeisenberglimit.[67]
Fortheappropriatelychosenmeasureofentanglement,Bell,GHZ,andNOONstatesaremaximally
entangledwhilespinsqueezedandtwinFockstatesareonlypartiallyentangled.Thepartiallyentangled
statesaregenerallyeasiertoprepareexperimentally.

Methodsofcreatingentanglement
Entanglementisusuallycreatedbydirectinteractionsbetweensubatomicparticles.Theseinteractions
cantakenumerousforms.Oneofthemostcommonlyusedmethodsisspontaneousparametricdown
conversiontogenerateapairofphotonsentangledinpolarisation.[68]Othermethodsincludetheuseofa
fibercouplertoconfineandmixphotons,theuseofquantumdotstotrapelectronsuntildecayoccurs,
theuseoftheHongOuMandeleffect,etc.,IntheearliesttestsofBell'stheorem,theentangledparticles
weregeneratedusingatomiccascades.
Itisalsopossibletocreateentanglementbetweenquantumsystemsthatneverdirectlyinteracted,
throughtheuseofentanglementswapping.

Testingasystemforentanglement
Systemswhichcontainnoentanglementaresaidtobeseparable.For2QubitandQubitQutritsystems
(22and23respectively)thesimplePeresHorodeckicriterionprovidesbothanecessaryanda
sufficientcriterionforseparability,andthusfordetectingentanglement.However,forthegeneralcase,
thecriterionismerelyasufficientoneforseparability,astheproblembecomesNPhard.[69][70]A
numericalapproachtotheproblemissuggestedbyJonMagneLeinaas,JanMyrheimandEirikOvrum
intheirpaper"Geometricalaspectsofentanglement".[71]Leinaasetal.offeranumericalapproach,
iterativelyrefininganestimatedseparablestatetowardsthetargetstatetobetested,andcheckingifthe
targetstatecanindeedbereached.Animplementationofthealgorithm(includingabuiltinPeres
Horodeckicriteriontesting)isbroughtinthe"StateSeparator"webapp
(http://physics.technion.ac.il/stateseparator/).

Naturallyentangledsystems
Theelectronshellofmultielectronatomsalwaysconsistsofentangledelectrons.Thecorrectionization
energycanbecalculatedonlybyconsiderationofelectronentanglement.[72]
Ithasbeenshownbyfemtosecondtransitionspectroscopy,thatinthephotosystemofplants,entangled
photonsexist.Anefficientconversionofthephotonenergyintochemicalenergyispossibleonlydueto
thisentanglement.[73][74]