Entanglement and the speed of evolution of multi-partite quantum systems

Abstract

There exists an interesting relationship between entanglement and the time evolution of composite quantum systems: quantum entanglement enhances the 'speed' of evolution of certain quantum states, as measured by the time needed to reach an orthogonal state. Previous research done on this subject has been focused upon comparing extreme cases (highly entangled states versus separable states) or upon bi-partite systems. In the present contribution we explore the aforementioned connection (between entanglement and time evolution) in the cases of two-qubits and N-qubits systems, taking into account states of intermediate entanglement. In particular, we investigate a family of energetically symmetric states of low entanglement that saturate the quantum speed bound. We show that, as the number of qubits increases, very little entanglement is needed to reach the quantum speed limit. © 2007 IOP Publishing Ltd.