Locking classical correlation in quantum states

Abstract

We show that there exist bipartite quantum states which contain large hidden classical correlation that can be unlocked by a disproportionately small amount of classical communication. In particular, there are $(2n+1)$-qubit states for which a one bit message doubles the optimal classical mutual information between measurement results on the subsystems, from $n/2$ bits to $n$ bits. States exhibiting this behavior need not be entangled. We study the range of states exhibiting this phenomenon and bound its magnitude.