X-states from a finite geometric perspective

Abstract

It is found that 15 different types of two-qubit X-states split naturally into two sets (of cardinality 9 and 6) once their entanglement properties are taken into account. We characterize both the validity and entangled nature of the X-states with maximally-mixed subsystems in terms of certain parameters and show that their properties are related to a special class of geometric hyperplanes of the symplectic polar space of order two and rank two. Finally, we introduce the concept of hyperplane-states and briefly address their non-local properties.

Keywords

• X-states
• Entanglement
• Non-locality
• Point-line geometry
• Two-qubit operators
• Symplectic polar space