Multipartite

Something is said to '''multipartite''' if it consists two or more distinct parts. If there are only two parts it is called [[bipartite]], if there are three it is '''tripartite''' and something consisting of $N$ parts is called '''N-partite'''. In quantum information science it is often quantum systems that are shared between a number of parties, usually spatially separated and sometimes called Alice, Bob, Charlie, etc. If the subsystems are described by the Hilbert spaces $H\_1,\; H\_2,\; \backslash ldots,\; H\_N$ the compound multipartite system is described by the [[tensor product]] of the Hilbert spaces, $H\; =\; H\_1\; \backslash otimes\; H\_2\; \backslash otimes\; \backslash ldots\; \backslash otimes\; H\_N$. State vectors and [[density operator]]s on $H$ are called ''multipartite quantum states''. == See also == * [[Bipartite]] * [[Tensor product]] == External links == * [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tripartite Tripartite] in Wiktionary [[Category:Handbook of Quantum Information]] [[Category:Mathematical Structure]]