Degrees of entanglement for multipartite systems

Abstract

We propose a unified mathematical scheme, based on a classical tensor isomorphism, for characterizing entanglement that works for pure states of multipartite systems of any number of particles. The degree of entanglement is indicated by a set of absolute values of the determinants for each subspace of the multipartite systems. Our scheme provides a characterization of the degrees of entanglement when the qubits are measured or lost successively, and leads naturally to necessary and sufficient conditions for multipartite pure states to be separable. For systems with a large number of particles, a rougher indication of the degree of entanglement is provided by the set of mean values of the determinantal values for each subspace of the multipartite systems.