Continuous variable entanglement in two-mode open quantum systems
Abstract
In the framework of the theory of open systems based on completely positive quantum dynamical semigroups, we give a description of the continuous-variable entanglement for a system consisting of two noninteracting modes embedded in a thermal environment. By using the Peres-Simon necessary and sufficient criterion for separability, we show that for all values of the temperature of the thermal reservoir, an initial separable Gaussian state remains separable for all times. In the case of an entangled initial Gaussian state, entanglement suppression (entanglement sudden death) takes place, for non-zero temperatures of the environment. Only for a zero temperature of the thermal bath, the initial entangled state remains entangled for finite times. We analyze also the time evolution of logarithmic negativity, which characterizes the degree of entanglement of the state, and of Gaussian quantum discord, which is a measure of all quantum correlations in the bipartite state, including entanglement.