Detecting entanglement through correlations between local observables

Abstract

We propose a measure of two-qubit entanglement that is invariant under local unitary transformations, and which is based on local measurements covariances. It measures the Hilbert-Schmidt distance between the state and the product state obtained by multiplying the local density matrices. The measure has the benefit that the experimentalist need not have any a priori knowledge of the state to make the measurements. For pure states, the measure provides the state's concurrence directly, without resorting to state tomography. For statistically mixed states, the measure provides bounds for the concurrence. The two-qutrit case is also studied. © 2007 IOP Publishing Ltd.