Bell’s inequalities for Rydberg atoms

Abstract

The analogy between two-level atoms and spins is used to show that Rydberg atoms provide a new medium through which Bell’s inequalities may be studied. The low-efficiency particle detectors that have been used in experiments to test Bell’s inequalities are replaced by nearly 100% efficient state-selective ionizers in Rydberg-atom experiments. Two methods for producing correlated states of pairs of atoms are discussed. Each method can be used to create correlated states of more than two atoms. A Bell inequality for a three-atom system is considered and compared with quantum-mechanical predictions. A violation of the inequality for the three-particle system is predicted.