Dynamics of genuine multipartite correlations in open quantum systems

We propose a measure for genuine multipartite correlations suited for the study of dynamics in open quantum systems. This measure is contextual in the sense that it depends on how information is read from the environment. It is used to study an interacting collective system of atoms undergoing phase transitions as external parameters are varied. We show that the steady state of the system can have a significant degree of genuine multipartite quantum and classical correlations, and that the proposed measure can serve as a witness of critical behavior in quantum systems.