  Consider a ring of N qubits in a translationally invariant quantum state. We
ask to what extent each pair of nearest neighbors can be entangled. Under
certain assumptions about the form of the state, we find a formula for the
maximum possible nearest-neighbor entanglement. We then compare this maximum
with the entanglement achieved by the ground state of an antiferromagnetic ring
consisting of an even number of spin-1/2 particles. We find that, though the
antiferromagnetic ground state does not maximize the nearest-neighbor
entanglement relative to all other states, it does so relative to other states
having zero z-component of spin.
