All maximally entangled four-qubit states

Abstract

We find an operational interpretation for the 4-tangle as a type of residual entanglement, somewhat similar to the interpretation of the 3-tangle. Using this remarkable interpretation, we are able to find the class of maximally entangled four-qubits states which is characterized by four real parameters. The states in the class are maximally entangled in the sense that their average bipartite entanglement with respect to all possible bipartite cuts is maximal. We show that while all the states in the class maximize the average tangle, there are only a few states in the class that maximize the average Tsillas or Renyi α-entropy of entanglement. Quite remarkably, we find that up to local unitaries, there exists two unique states, one maximizing the average α-Tsallis entropy of entanglement for all α ⩾ 2, while the other maximizing it for all 0 < α ⩽ 2 (including the von-Neumann case of α = 1). Furthermore, among the maximally entangled four qubits states, there are only three maximally entangled states that have the property that for two, out of the three bipartite cuts consisting of two-qubits verses two-qubits, the entanglement is 2 ebits and for the remaining bipartite cut the entanglement between the two groups of two qubits is 1 ebit. The unique three maximally entangled states are the three cluster states that are related by a swap operator. We also show that the cluster states are the only states (up to local unitaries) that maximize the average α-Renyi entropy of entanglement for all α ⩾ 2.