Observation of one-way Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen steering

Abstract

The distinctive non-classical features of quantum physics were first discussed in the seminal paper by A. Einstein, B. Podolsky and N. Rosen (EPR) in 1935. In his immediate response E. Schr\"odinger introduced the notion of entanglement, now seen as the essential resource in quantum information as well as in quantum metrology. Furthermore he showed that at the core of the EPR argument is a phenomenon which he called steering. In contrast to entanglement and violations of Bell's inequalities, steering implies a direction between the parties involved. Recent theoretical works have precisely defined this property. Here we present an experimental realization of two entangled Gaussian modes of light by which in fact one party can steer the other but not conversely. The generated one-way steering gives a new insight into quantum physics and may open a new field of applications in quantum information.