We present an analysis of noisy atomic channels involving qutrits. We choose a three-level atom with $\mathsf{V}$ configuration to be the qutrit state. Gell-Mann matrices and a generalized Bloch vector (eight-dimensional) are used to describe the qutrit density operator. We introduce quantum quasidistributions for qutrits that provide a simple description of entanglement. Studying the time evolution for the atomic variables we find the Kraus representation of spontaneous emission quantum channel (SE channel). Furthermore, we consider a generalized Werner state of two qutrits and investigate the separability condition in the presence of spontaneous emission noise. The influence of spontaneous emission on the separability of Werner states for qutrit and qubit states is compared.

• Received 16 May 2007

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.76.052306