Comparative study of quantum discord and geometric discord for generic bipartite states

Abstract

The characterization of quantum discord (QD) and geometric discord (GD) has mostly concentrated on two-qubit states since the minimization in both discords is a daunting task for high-dimensional states. Numerical calculations of both discords are carried out for a generic bipartite state. When one-dimensional orthogonal projectors for a local measurement on n-dimensional Hilbert space are realized by the generators and the Euler angles of SU (n), the optimal measurements have a figure of merit that includes n(n - 1) Euler parameters. As an representative example, such projectors and two kinds of algorithms are used to estimate both discords for two-qutrit mixed states in recent literature. The generalized negativity as a measure of quantum entanglement is calculated for reference purposes. For those states with one parameter the discords and the negativity respectively display the nonlinear and the linear function of the parameter, with different turning points. However, they are positively correlated in the suitable ranges of the parameter for those states. The hierarchy of those quantities is discussed as well. Those shed new light on the understanding of QDs and quantum entanglement of mixed states in high-dimensions.