We consider the characterization of entanglement depth in a quantum many-body system from the device-independent perspective; that is, we aim at certifying how many particles are genuinely entangled without relying on assumptions on the system itself nor on the measurements performed. We obtain device-independent witnesses of entanglement depth (DIWEDs) using the Bell inequalities introduced in [J. Tura et al., Science 344, 1256 (2014)] and compute their $k$-producibility bounds. To this end, we exploit two complementary methods: first, a variational one, yielding a possibly optimal $k$-producible state; second, a certificate of optimality via a semidefinite program, based on a relaxation of the quantum marginal problem. Numerical results suggest a clear pattern on $k$-producible bounds for large system sizes, which we then tackle analytically in the thermodynamic limit. Contrary to existing DIWEDs, the ones we present here can be effectively measured by accessing only collective measurements and second moments thereof. These technical requirements are met in current experiments, which have already been performed in the context of detecting Bell correlations in quantum many-body systems of $5\times {10}^2–5\times {10}^5$ atoms.

• Received 27 March 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.100507