Volumes of conditioned bipartite state spaces

We analyze the metric properties of conditioned quantum state spaces These spaces are the convex sets of density matrices that, when partially traced over m degrees of freedom, respectively yield the given n × n density matrix η. For the case n = 2, the volume of equipped with the Hilbert–Schmidt measure can be conjectured to be a simple polynomial of the radius of η in the Bloch-ball. Remarkably, for we find numerically that the probability to find a separable state in is independent of η (except for η pure). For , the same holds for , the probability to find a state with a positive partial transpose in . These results are proven analytically for the case of the family of 4 × 4 X-states, and thoroughly numerically investigated for the general case. The important implications of these findings for the clarification of open problems in quantum theory are pointed out and discussed.