Quantum correlations and least disturbing local measurements

Abstract

We examine the evaluation of the minimum information loss due to an unread local measurement in mixed states of bipartite systems, for a general entropic form. Such a quantity provides a measure of quantum correlations, reducing for pure states to the generalized entanglement entropy, while in the case of mixed states it vanishes just for classically correlated states with respect to the measured system, as the quantum discord. General stationary conditions are provided, together with their explicit form for general two-qubit states. Closed expressions for the minimum information loss as measured by quadratic and cubic entropies are also derived for general states of two-qubit systems. As an application, we analyze the case of states with maximally mixed marginals, where a general evaluation is provided, as well as X states and the mixture of two aligned states.