Gilbert proposed an algorithm for bounding the distance between a given point and a convex set. In this article we apply the Gilbert's algorithm to get an upper bound on the Hilbert-Schmidt distance (HSD) between a given state and the set of separable states. While HSD does not form a proper entanglement measure, it can nevertheless be useful for witnessing entanglement. We provide here a few methods based on the Gilbert's algorithm that can reliably qualify a given state as strongly entangled or practically separable, while being computationally efficient. The method also outputs successively improved approximations to the Closest Separable State (CSS) for the given state. We demonstrate the efficacy of the method with examples.

We find a single parameter family of genuinely entangled three qubit pure states, called the maximally Bell inequality violating states (MBV), which exhibit maximum Bell inequality violation by the reduced bipartite system for a fixed amount of genuine tripartite entanglement quantified by the so called tangle measure. This in turn implies that there holds a complementary relation between the Bell inequality violation by the reduced bipartite systems and the tangle present in the three qubit states, not necessarily pure. The MBV states also exhibit maximum Bell inequality violation by the reduced bipartite systems of the three qubit pure states with a fixed amount of genuine tripartite correlation quantified by the generalized geometric measure, a genuine entanglement measure of multiparty pure states, and the discord monogamy score, a multipartite quantum correlation measure from information theoretic paradigm. The aforementioned complementary relation has also been established for three qubit pure states for the generalized geometric measure and the discord monogamy score respectively. The complementarity between the Bell inequality violation by the reduced bipartite systems and the genuine tripartite correlation suggests that the Bell inequality violation in the reduced two qubit system comes at the cost of the total tripartite correlation present in the entire system.

We discuss the use of the Gilbert algorithm to tailor entanglement witnesses for unextendible product basis bound entangled states (UPB BE states). The method relies on the fact that an optimal entanglement witness is given by a plane perpendicular to a line between the reference state, entanglement of which is to be witnessed, and its closest separable state (CSS). The Gilbert algorithm finds an approximation of CSS. In this article, we investigate if this approximation can be good enough to yield a valid entanglement witness. We compare witnesses found with Gilbert algorithm and those given by Bandyopadhyay-Ghosh-Roychowdhury (BGR) construction. This comparison allows us to learn about the amount of entanglement and we find a relationship between it and a feature of the construction of UPBBE states, namely the size of their central tile. We show that in most studied cases, witnesses found with the Gilbert algorithm in this work are more optimal than ones obtained by Bandyopadhyay, Ghosh, and Roychowdhury. This result implies the increased tolerance to experimental imperfections in a realization of the state.

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