Characterization of pure quantum states of multiple qubits using the Groverian entanglement measure

Abstract

The Groverian entanglement measure $G(\ensuremath{\psi})$ is applied to characterize pure quantum states $\ensuremath{\mid}\ensuremath{\psi}⟩$ of multiple qubits. This is an operational measure of entanglement in the sense that it quantifies the utility of the state $\ensuremath{\mid}\ensuremath{\psi}⟩$ as an initial state for the search algorithm. A convenient parametrization is presented, which allows us to calculate the Groverian measure analytically for certain states of high symmetry. A numerical procedure is used in order to calculate it for arbitrary pure states of multiple qubits. Using the Groverian measure to evaluate the entanglement produced by quantum algorithms may provide useful insight into the role of entanglement in making quantum algorithms powerful. Here we calculate $G(\ensuremath{\psi})$ for the intermediate states generated during the evolution of Grover's algorithm for various initial states and for different sets of marked states. It is shown that Grover's iterations generate highly entangled states in intermediate stages of the quantum search process, even if the initial state and the target state are product states.