Given a non-maximally entangled state, an operationally significant question is to quantitatively assess as to what extent the state is away from the maximally entangled state, which is of importance in evaluating the efficacy of the state for its various uses as a resource. It is this question which is examined in this paper for two-qubit pure entangled states in terms of different entanglement measures like Negativity(N), Logarithmic Negativity(LN) and Entanglement of Formation(EOF). Theoretical estimates show that percentage deviations from the maximally entangled state of any given entangled state, quantified by N vis-ã-vis EOF, can differ quite appreciably, even up to ∼ 15 % for states further away from the maximally entangled state, while for LN vis-ã-vis EOF, the maximum value of this difference is around 23 %. This analysis is complemented by illustration of these differences in terms of empirical results obtained from a suitably planned experimental study. Thus, such appreciable amount of quantitative non-equivalence between the entanglement measures in addressing the experimentally relevant question considered in the present paper highlights the requirement of an appropriate quantifier for such intent. We indicate directions of study that can be explored towards finding such a quantifier.

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The unavoidable and irreversible interaction between an entangled quantum system and its environment causes decoherence of the individual qubits as well as degradation of the entanglement between them. Entanglement sudden death (ESD) is the phenomenon wherein disentanglement happens in finite time even when individual qubits decohere only asymptotically in time due to noise. Prolonging the entanglement is essential for the practical realization of entanglement-based quantum information and computation protocols. For this purpose, the local NOT operation in the computational basis on one or both qubits has been proposed. Here, we formulate an all-optical experimental set-up involving such NOT operations that can hasten, delay, or completely avert ESD, all depending on when it is applied during the process of decoherence. Analytical expressions for these are derived in terms of parameters of the initial state's density matrix, whether for pure or mixed entangled states. After a discussion of the schematics of the experiment, the problem is theoretically analyzed, and simulation results of such manipulations of ESD are presented

The inevitable dissipative interaction of an entangled quantum system with its environment causes degradation in quantum correlations present in the system. This can lead to a finite-time disappearance of entanglement, which is known as Entanglement Sudden Death (ESD). Here, we consider an initially entangled qubit-qutrit system and a dissipative noise which leads to ESD, and propose a set of local unitary operations, which when applied on the qubit, qutrit, or both subsystems during the decoherence process, cause ESD to be hastened, delayed, or avoided altogether, depending on its time of application. Delay and avoidance of ESD may find practical application in quantum information processing protocols that would otherwise suffer due to short lifetime of entanglement. The physical implementation of these local unitaries is discussed in the context of an atomic system. The simulation results of such ESD manipulations are presented for two different classes of initially entangled qubit-qutrit systems. A prescription for generalization of this scheme to a qutrit-qutrit system is given. This technique for entanglement protection in the noisy environment is compared with other related techniques such as weak measurement reversal, dynamic decoupling, and quantum Zeno effect.