On two-qubit states ordering with quantum discords

TL;DR

This paper investigates how two-qubit states are ordered by quantum discord measures, revealing that such ordering can vary across different classes of Bell-diagonal states, extending previous findings on entanglement measures.

Contribution

It provides an analytical study of state ordering with quantum discord for Bell-diagonal states, identifying classes where ordering is preserved and illustrating these cases.

Findings

Quantum discord does not always preserve state ordering.

Some classes of Bell-diagonal states maintain ordering with quantum discord.

The study extends understanding of quantum correlations beyond entanglement.

Abstract

The counterintuitive effect of non-unique ordering of two-qubit states with quantum entanglement measures was discovered over ten years ago. More precisely, it was shown by Monte Carlo simulations that there exist states for which the entanglement of formation and the negativity do not impose the same ordering of states, i.e. $E_{F}(\rho_{AB}) \leq (\geq) E_{F}(\rho_{AB}^{\prime})$ is not equivalent to $N(\rho_{AB}) \leq (\geq) N(\rho_{AB}^{\prime})$. Recently, it was discovered that quantum discord and the geometric quantum discord do not necessarily imply the same ordering of two-qubit $X$-states, which means that the lack of the unique ordering of states with quantum entanglement measures goes beyond entanglement. Inspired by this observation, we study the problem of the states ordering with quantum discords, considering two-qubit Bell-diagonal states for analytical simplicity. In particular, we identify some classes of states for which the states ordering with quantum discords is preserved as long as the states belong to the same class and give a few illustrative examples.