Detection and Quantification of Entanglement in Multipartite Quantum Systems Using Weighted Graph and Bloch Representation of States

This thesis is an attempt to enhance understanding of the following questions AGiven a multipartite quantum state (possibly mixed), how to find out whether it is entangled or separable? (Detection of entanglement.) BGiven an entangled state, how to decide how much entangled it is? (Measure of entanglement.), in the context of multipartite quantum states. We have explored two approaches. In the first approach, we assign a weighted graph with multipartite quantum state and address the question of separability in terms of these graphs and various operations involving them. In the second approach we use the so called Bloch representation of multipartite quantum states to establish new criteria for detection of multipartite entangled states. We further give a new measure for entanglement in N -qubit entangled pure state and formally extend it to cover N -qubit mixed states. We give a method to associate a graph with an arbitrary density matrix referred to a standard orthonormal basis in the Hilbert space of a finite dimensional quantum system. We study related issues such as classification of pure and mixed states, Von Neumann entropy, separability of multipartite quantum states and quantum operations in terms of the graphs associated with quantum states. In order to address the separability and entanglement questions using graphs, we introduce a modified tensor product of weighted graphs, and establish its algebraic properties. In particular, we show that Werner’s definition (Werner 1989 Phys. Rev. A 40 4277) of a separable state can be written in terms of graphs, for the states in a real or complex Hilbert space. We generalize the separability criterion (degree criterion) due to Braunstein et al. (2006 Phys. Rev. A 73 012320) to a class of weighted graphs with real weights. We have given some criteria for the Laplacian associated with a weighted graph to be positive semidefinite. We settle the so-called degree conjecture for the separability of multipartite quantum states, which are normalized graph Laplacians, first given by Braunstein et al. [Phys. Rev. A 73, 012320 (2006)]. The conjecture states that a multipartite quantum state is separable if and only if the degree