Minimum-correlation mixed quantum states

Abstract

We consider states leading to the equality sign in the uncertainty inequalities associated with correlations in open quantum systems which have been recently derived by Ponomarenko and Wolf [Phys. Rev. A 63, 062106 (2001)]. The new inequalities involve fluctuations defined in terms of the square of the density operator that characterizes mixed states. We find the minimum-correlation states associated with the quadratures of single-mode and two-mode electromagnetic fields in a cavity and for the angular momentum operators which can describe atomic degrees of freedom. We show that while in the case of single-mode quadratures the functional form of the minimum-correlation state is uniquely specified, this is not so for the other pairs of noncommuting operators. In general, the states with the least amount of correlations are mixed and they exhibit squeezing.