Quantum coherence in multipartite systems

Within the unified framework of exploiting the relative entropy as a distance measure of quantum correlations, we make explicit the hierarchical structure of quantum coherence, quantum discord, and quantum entanglement in multipartite systems. On this basis, we define a basis-independent measure of quantum coherence and prove that it is exactly equivalent to quantum discord. Furthermore, since the original relative entropy of coherence is a basis-dependent quantity, we investigate the local and nonlocal unitary creation of quantum coherence, focusing on the two-qubit unitary gates. Intriguingly, our results demonstrate that nonlocal unitary gates do not necessarily outperform the local unitary gates. Finally, the additivity relationship of quantum coherence in tripartite systems is discussed in detail, where the strong subadditivity of von Neumann entropy plays an essential role.