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The $n$-qubit W state is the Dicke state with one excitation:For three qubits it is $(|001⟩+|010⟩+|100⟩)/\sqrt{3}$. Its reduced density matrix on any one qubit is $\mathrm{diag}((n-1)/n,1/n)$, from the Dicke state recursion. For $n>1$ both diagonal entries are nonzero, so that qubit is entangled with the rest: a pure product state would have a pure marginal. A symmetric-arm reduction of an exchange Hamiltonian supplies a dynamical preparation from one initial excitation.

The isotropic XY exchange interaction between two qubits is $E=(X\otimes X+Y\otimes Y)/2$. Its action isIndeed, $X|0⟩=|1⟩$, $X|1⟩=|0⟩$, $Y|0⟩=i|1⟩$, and $Y|1⟩=-i|0⟩$. The two terms cancel on equal bits and add on unequal bits. Thus a network Hamiltonian operator $H={\sum }_{a,b}{K}_{ab}{E}_{ab}$ preserves excitation number; in the single-excitation subspace, it is the weighted adjacency matrix, moving an excitation from $a$ to $b$ with hopping coefficient $K_{ab}$.