Entanglement Robustness in Trace Decreasing Quantum Dynamics

Abstract

Trace decreasing dynamical maps are as physical as trace preserving ones; however, they are much less studied. Here we overview how the quantum Sinkhorn theorem can be successfully applied to find a two-qubit entangled state which has the strongest robustness against local noises and losses of quantum information carriers. We solve a practically relevant problem of finding an optimal initial encoding to distribute entangled polarized qubits through communication lines with polarization dependent losses and extra depolarizing noise. The longest entanglement lifetime is shown to be attainable with a state that is not maximally entangled.

Quanta 2021; 10: 15–21.