Fourth moments reveal the negativity of the Wigner function

Abstract

The presence of unique quantum correlations is the core of quantum-information processing and general quantum theory. We address the fundamental question of how quantum correlations of a generic quantum system can be probed using correlation functions defined for quasiprobability distributions. In particular, we discuss the possibility of probing the negativity of a quasiprobability by comparing moments of the Wigner function. We show that one must take at least the fourth moments to find the negativity in general and the eighth moments for states with a rotationally invariant Wigner function. © 2011 American Physical Society.