Entanglement in the three-qubit Heisenberg model with next nearest neighbor interaction and a nonuniform magnetic field

Pairwise thermal entanglement in the three-qubit XXX Heisenberg model with next nearest neighbor interaction and a nonuniform magnetic field has been studied. It's found that the next nearest neighbor interaction has a great effect on the entanglement between the next nearest neighbor sites, but has slight effect on the nearest neighbor entanglement (NNE). Applying a magnetic field at the middle site enhances the next nearest neighbor entanglement (NNNE) sharply when there is a small field at the side sites and the next nearest neighbor coupling constant is positive. A staggered magnetic field helps to maintain nearest neighbor entanglement obviously.