Operational criterion and constructive checks for the separability of low-rank density matrices

Abstract

We consider low rank density operators $\varrho$ supported on a $M\times N$ Hilbert space for arbitrary $M$ and $N$ ($M\leq N$) and with a positive partial transpose (PPT) $\varrho^{T_A}\ge 0$. For rank $r(\varrho) \leq N$ we prove that having a PPT is necessary and sufficient for $\varrho$ to be separable; in this case we also provide its minimal decomposition in terms of pure product states. It follows from this result that there is no rank 3 bound entangled states having a PPT. We also present a necessary and sufficient condition for the separability of generic density matrices for which the sum of the ranks of $\varrho$ and $\varrho^{T_A}$ satisfies $r(\varrho)+r(\varrho^{T_A}) \le 2MN-M-N+2$. This separability condition has the form of a constructive check, providing thus also a pure product state decomposition for separable states, and it works in those cases where a system of couple polynomial equations has a finite number of solutions, as expected in most cases.