Dynamics and Characterization of Composite Quantum Systems Introduction Background Local Detection of Correlations From Local Operations to Collective Dephasing: Behavior of Correlations Quantum Phase Transition in a Family of Quantum Magnets Multidimensional Nonlinear Spectroscopy of Controllable Quantum Systems Open Quantum Systems of Identical Particles Summary and Conclusions. . This thesis sheds new light on the fascinating properties of composite quantum systems. Quantum systems of different sizes ranging from small bipartite systems to large many body ensembles can be studied with the help of modern quantum optical experiments. These experiments make it possible to observe a broad variety of striking features including nonclassical correlations complex dynamics and quantum phase transitions. By adopting the complementary perspectives of quantum information theory quantum chemistry and many body theory the thesis develops new methods for the efficient characterization and description of interacting composite quantum systems.