Coherence number as a discrete quantum resource

Abstract: We introduce a new discrete coherence monotone named the \emph{coherence number}, which is a generalization of the coherence rank to mixed states. After defining the coherence number in a similar manner to the Schmidt number in entanglement theory, we present a necessary and sufficient condition of the coherence number for a coherent state to be converted to an entangled state of nonzero $k$-concurrence (a member of the generalized concurrence family with $2\le k \le d$). It also turns out that the coherence number is a useful measure to understand the process of Grover search algorithm of $N$ items. We show that the coherence number remains $N$ and falls abruptly when the success probability of the searching process becomes maximal. This phenomenon motivates us to analyze the depletion pattern of $C_c^{(N)}$ (the last member of the generalized coherence concurrence, nonzero when the coherence number is $N$), which turns out to be an optimal resource for the process since it is completely consumed to finish the searching task.