Separability Criterion for Density Matrices

Asher Peres

Published 1996-04-08, updated 1996-06-17Version 2

A quantum system consisting of two subsystems is separable if its density matrix can be written as $\rho=\sum_A w_A\,\rho_A'\otimes\rho_A''$, where $\rho_A'$ and $\rho_A''$ are density matrices for the two subsytems. In this Letter, it is shown that a necessary condition for separability is that a matrix, obtained by partial transposition of $\rho$, has only non-negative eigenvalues. This criterion is stronger than Bell's inequality.