Witnessing quantum discord in 2 x N systems

Abstract: Bipartite states with vanishing quantum discord are necessarily separable and hence positive partial transpose (PPT). We show that 2 x N states satisfy additional property: the positivity of their partial transposition is recognized with respect to the canonical factorization of the original density operator. We call such states SPPT (for strong PPT). Therefore, we provide a natural witness for a quantum discord: if a 2 x N state is not SPPT it must contain nonclassical correlations measured by quantum discord. It is an analog of the celebrated Peres-Horodecki criterion: if a state is not PPT it must be entangled.