Tripartite quantum state mapping and discontinuous entanglement transfer in a cavity QED open system

We describe the transfer of quantum information and entanglement from three propagating (radiation) to three localized (atomic) qubits via cavity modes resonantly coupled to atoms in the presence of a common reservoir. Upon addressing the full dynamics of the resulting nine-qubit open system, we find that once the cavities are fed, fidelity and transferred entanglement are optimal, while their peak values exponentially decrease due to dissipative processes. The external radiation is then turned off and quantum correlations oscillate between atomic and cavity qubits. For a class of mixtures of W and GHZ input states, we deal with a discontinuous exchange of entanglement among the subsystems, facing the still open problem of entanglement sudden death and birth in a multipartite system.