Steerability of rank-2 two-qubit entangled states
Quantum nonlocality is an essential resource in quantum information and is commonly classified into three distinct forms: quantum entanglement, Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) steering, and Bell’s nonlocality. Gisin’s theorem shows that pure-state entanglement implies Bell nonlocality, and it motivates the question of how entanglement and EPR steering are related beyond pure states. Here we prove that every entangled rank-2 two-qubit state is EPR steerable, with rank-1 states included as a special case. The proof combines a local-unitary parametrization of rank-2 two-qubit states, a necessary and sufficient separability condition, and a state-dependent nonlinear steering inequality. This gives an analytical characterization of EPR steerability for rank-2 two-qubit entangled states. Thus, rank-2 two-qubit entangled states provide certifiable EPR-steering resources in quantum information.
Authors
- Jing‐Ling Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3411-6015)
- Yu-Xuan Zhang
Institutions
- Nankai University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- npj Quantum Information
- Published
- 2026-08-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41534-026-01359-z
- Primary Topic
- Quantum Information and Cryptography
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00