Distributed correlations and information flows within a hybrid multipartite quantum-classical system

TL;DR

This paper investigates how non-Markovian effects and information flows in a hybrid quantum-classical system explain entanglement revivals and the dynamics of tripartite correlations, revealing mechanisms behind entanglement retrieval.

Contribution

It provides an information-theoretic analysis of entanglement revivals in a tripartite system with classical environment interactions, highlighting the role of tripartite correlations and information flow.

Findings

Entanglement revivals correspond to increases in tripartite correlations.

Dark periods of entanglement coincide with stable tripartite correlations.

Freezing of overall correlations occurs during certain dynamics.

Abstract

Understanding the non-Markovian mechanisms underlying the revivals of quantum entanglement in the presence of classical environments is central in the theory of quantum information. Tentative interpretations have been given by either the role of the environment as a control device or the concept of hidden entanglement. We address this issue from an information-theoretic point of view. To this aim, we consider a paradigmatic tripartite system, already realized in the laboratory, made of two independent qubits and a random classical field locally interacting with one qubit alone. We study the dynamical relationship between the two-qubit entanglement and the genuine tripartite correlations of the overall system, finding that collapse and revivals of entanglement correspond, respectively, to raise and fall of the overall tripartite correlations. Interestingly, entanglement dark periods can enable plateaux of nonzero tripartite correlations. We then explain this behavior in terms of information flows among the different parties of the system. Besides showcasing the phenomenon of the freezing of overall correlations, our results provide new insights on the origin of retrieval of entanglement within a hybrid quantum-classical system.