The limitation on the shareability of quantum entanglement over several parties, the so-called monogamy of entanglement, is an issue that has received considerable attention from the quantum information community over the last decade. A natural question of interest in this connection is whether monogamy of correlations is true for correlations other than entanglement. This issue is examined here by choosing quantum deficit, proposed by A. K. Rajagopal and R. W. Rendell [Phys. Rev. A 66, 022104 (2002)], an operational measure of correlations. In addition to establishing the polygamous nature of the class of three-qubit symmetric pure states characterized by two distinct Majorana spinors (to which the $W$ states belong), those with three distinct Majorana spinors [to which Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states belong] are shown to either obey or violate monogamy relations. While the generalized $W$ states can be monogamous or polygamous, the generalized GHZ states exhibit monogamy with respect to quantum deficit. The issue of using monogamy conditions based on quantum deficit to witness the states belonging to stochastic local operations and classical communication (SLOCC) inequivalent classes is discussed in light of these results.

• Received 15 October 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.85.012103