Geometric measure of mixing of quantum state

Abstract: We define the geometric measure of mixing of quantum state as a minimal Hilbert-Schmidt distance between the mixed state and a set of pure states. An explicit expression for the geometric measure is obtained. It is interesting that this expression corresponds to the squared Euclidian distance between the mixed state and the pure one in space of eigenvalues of the density matrix. As an example, geometric measure of mixing for spin-1/2 states is calculated.