Violation Of Local Realism Research Articles

Symmetric hypergraph states: entanglement quantification and robust Bell nonlocality

Abstract Quantum hypergraph states are the natural generalization of graph states. Here we investigate and analytically quantify entanglement and nonlocality for large classes of quantum hypergraph states. More specifically, we connect the geometric measure of entanglement of symmetric hypergraphs to their local Pauli stabilizers. As a result we recognize the resemblance between symmetric graph states and symmetric hypergraph states. This explains both the exponentially increasing violation of local realism for infinitely many classes of hypergraph states and robustness towards particle loss.

Optimal tests of genuine multipartite nonlocality

We propose an optimal and efficient numerical test for witnessing genuine multipartite nonlocality based on a geometric approach. In particular, we consider two non-equivalent models of local hidden variables, namely the Svetlichny and the no-signaling bilocal models. While our knowledge concerning these models is well established for Bell-type scenarios involving two measurement settings per party, the general case based on an arbitrary number of settings is a considerably more challenging task and very little work has been done in this field. In this paper, we applied such general tests to detect and characterize genuine n-way nonlocal correlations for various states of three qubits and qutrits. Apart from the fundamental problem of characterizing genuine multipartite nonlocal correlations, the extension of the number of measurements beyond two is also of practical importance. As a measure of nonlocality, we use the probability of violation of local realism under randomly sampled observables, and the strength of nonlocality, described by the resistance to white noise admixture. In particular, we analyze to what extent the Bell-type scenario involving two measurement settings can be used to certify genuine n-way nonlocal correlations generated for more general models. In addition, we propose a simple procedure to detect such nonlocal correlations for randomly chosen settings with an efficiency of up to 100%. Due to its near-perfect efficiency, our method may open new possibilities in device-independent quantum cryptography applications where strong nonlocality between all partners is required.

Bosonic fields in states with undefined particle numbers possess detectable non-contextuality features, plus more

The paradoxical features of quantum theory are usually formulated for fixed number of particles. While one can now find a formulation of Bell’s theorem for quantum fields, a Kochen–Specker-type reasoning is usually formulated for just one particle, or like in the case of Peres–Mermin square for two. Is it possible to formulate a contextuality proof for situation in which the numbers of particles are fundamentally undefined? We introduce a representation of the algebra in terms of boson number states in two modes that allows us to assess nonclassicality of states of bosonic fields. This representation allows to show contextuality, and is efficient to reveal violation of local realism, and to formulate entanglement indicators. A form of an non-contextuality inequality is derived, giving a bosonic Peres–Mermin square. The entanglement indicators are built with Pauli-like field observables. The non-clasicality indicators are effective. This is shown for the 2 × 2 bright squeezed vacuum state, and a recently discussed bright-GHZ state resulting from multiple three photon emissions in a parametric process.

Simplified quantum optical Stokes observables and Bell’s theorem

We discuss a simplified form of Stokes operators for quantum optical fields that involve the known concept of binning. Behind polarization analyzer photon numbers (more generally intensities) are measured. We have two outputs, say, for horizontal and vertical polarization. If the value obtained in horizontal output is greater than in vertical one we put 1. Otherwise, we put − 1. For equal photon numbers, we put 0. Such observables do not have all properties of the Stokes operators, but can be employed in Bell type measurements, involving polarization analyzers. They are especially handy for states of undefined number of photons, e.g. squeezed vacuum and their realisation is intuitive. We show that our observables can lead to quite robust violations of associated Bell inequalities. We formulate a strongly supported numerically conjecture that one can observe with this approach violations of local realism for the four mode squeezed vacuum for all pumping powers (i.e. gain values).

Entanglement witnessing by arbitrarily many independent observers recycling a local quantum shared state

We investigate the scenario where an observer, Alice, shares a two-qubit state with an arbitrary number of observers, Bobs, via sequentially and independently recycling the qubit in possession of the first Bob. It is known that there exist entangled states which can be used to have an arbitrarily long sequence of Bobs who can violate the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) Bell inequality with the single Alice. We show that there exist entangled states that do not violate the Bell inequality and whose entanglement can be detected by an arbitrary number of Bobs by suitably choosing the entanglement witness operator and the unsharp measurement settings by the Bobs. This proves that the set of states that can be used to witness entanglement sequentially is larger than those that can witness sequential violation of local realism. There exist, therefore, two-party quantum correlations that are Bell "classical", but whose entanglement "nonclassicality" can be witnessed sequentially and independently by an arbitrarily large number of observers at one end of the shared state with the single observer at the other end.

Remarks about Bell-nonclassicality of a single photon

We discuss the interferometric scheme put forward by Tan, Walls, and Collett (TWC) that claims to reveal Bell non-classicality of a single photon. We show that the violation of local realism they report hinges on an additional assumption about hidden variables. Without it, one can construct a classical model that correctly predicts all the probabilities of the TWC scheme. To illustrate this, we construct a proper Bell inequality, devoid of additional assumptions, that is not violated by the TWC setup. We then show a modification of the interferometric scheme, consisting in making the amplitude of auxiliary fields tunable, that enables the Bell violation. Finally, we present an alternative point of view on the shortcomings of the original TWC analysis, arguing that it effectively treats the weak coherent states classically.

Wave–particle complementarity: detecting violation of local realism with photon-number resolving weak-field homodyne measurements

Nowadays photon-number resolving weak-field homodyne measurements allow realization of emblematic gedankenexperiments revealing correlations of optical fields. This covers experiments on (a) excitation of a pair of spatial modes by a single photon, and (b) two spatial modes in a weakly squeezed vacuum state, involving constant local oscillator strengths. Proving Bell nonclassicality of such correlations demands measurements of complementary observables. We show that typical arrangement of weak-field homodyne detection with measurement settings defined by phases of local oscillators of constant strength does not provide enough complementarity for confirming Bell nonclassicality. In the case of experiment (a) we provide an exact local hidden variable model restoring all quantum probabilities, whereas in the case of experiment (b) we show that the claims of its nonclassicality are unfounded. A full complementarity of wave aspects vs particle (number) can be achieved in a measurement situation in which respectively the local oscillators are on or off. This is shown to lead to an operational scenario, in the case of both experiments (a) and (b), which reveals indisputable violations of local realism. Such schemes may find possible applications in device-independent quantum protocols.

Can single photon excitation of two spatially separated modes lead to a violation of Bell inequality via weak-field homodyne measurements?

We reconsider the all-optical weak homodyne-measurement based experimental schemes aimed at revealing Bell nonclassicality (‘nonlocality’) of a single photon. We focus on the schemes put forward by Tan et al (TWC, 1991) and Hardy (1994). In our previous work we show that the TWC experiment can be described by a local hidden variable model, hence the claimed nonclassicality is apparent. The nonclassicality proof proposed by Hardy remains impeccable. We investigate which feature of the Hardy’s approach is crucial to disclose the nonclassicality. There are consequential differences between TWC and Hardy setups: (i) the initial state of Hardy is a superposition of a single photon excitation with vacuum in one of the input modes of a 50–50 beamsplitter. In the TWC case there is no vacuum component. (ii) In the final measurements of Hardy’s proposal the local settings are specified by the presence or absence of a local oscillator field (on/off). In the TWC case the auxiliary fields are constant, only phases are varied. We show that in Hardy’s setup the violation of local realism occurs due to the varying strength of the local oscillators. Still, one does not need to operate in the fully on/off detection scheme. Thus, the nonclassicality in a Hardy-like setup cannot be attributed to the single-photon state alone. It is a consequence of its interference with the photons from auxiliary local fields. Neither can it be attributed to the joint state of the single photon excitation and the local oscillator modes, as this state is measurement setting dependent. Despite giving spurious violations of local realism, the TWC scheme can serve as an entanglement indicator, for the TWC state. Nevertheless an analogue indicator based on intensity rates rather than just intensities overperforms it.

Experimentally friendly approach towards nonlocal correlations in multisetting N-partite Bell scenarios

In this work, we study a recently proposed operational measure of nonlocality by Fonseca and Parisio [Phys. Rev. A 92, 030101(R) (2015)] which describes the probability of violation of local realism under randomly sampled observables, and the strength of such violation as described by resistance to white noise admixture. While our knowledge concerning these quantities is well established from a theoretical point of view, the experimental counterpart is a considerably harder task and very little has been done in this field. It is caused by the lack of complete knowledge about the facets of the local polytope required for the analysis. In this paper, we propose a simple procedure towards experimentally determining both quantities for N-qubit pure states, based on the incomplete set of tight Bell inequalities. We show that the imprecision arising from this approach is of similar magnitude as the potential measurement errors. We also show that even with both a randomly chosen N-qubit pure state and randomly chosen measurement bases, a violation of local realism can be detected experimentally almost 100% of the time. Among other applications, our work provides a feasible alternative for the witnessing of genuine multipartite entanglement without aligned reference frames.

Genuine tripartite nonlocality for random measurements in Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger-class states and its experimental test

We present a comprehensive numerical analysis of violations of local realism by tripartite generalized Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states. As an indicator of nonlocality we use the nonlocal fraction which describes the probability of violation of local realism under randomly sampled observables. We compare two kinds of local realism based on standard and hybrid local--nonlocal models. As a result, we show a great disproportion of the results determined for both models. Although the nonlocal fraction for standard local realism and tripartite generalized Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states significantly increases compared to the bipartite Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt scenario, the genuine tripartite nonlocality (the strongest form of nonlocal correlations) is observed with probability much smaller than its bipartite counterpart. Furthermore, when the effects of decoherence on these states are introduced, such disproportion becomes significantly greater. Finally, we present the statistical relevance of various classes of tight Bell inequalities as they are of paramount importance for practical experimental investigation of all problems discussed in this paper. We also propose the nonlocal fraction of hybrid local--nonlocal realism as a measure of genuine tripartite entanglement.

Strength and typicality of nonlocality in multisetting and multipartite Bell scenarios

In this work we investigate the probability of violation of local realism under random measurements in parallel with the strength of these violations as described by resistance to white noise admixture. We address multisetting Bell scenarios involving up to 7 qubits. As a result, in the first part of this manuscript we report statistical distributions of a quantity reciprocal to the critical visibility for various multipartite quantum states subjected to random measurements. The statistical relevance of different classes of multipartite tight Bell inequalities violated with random measurements is investigated. We also introduce the concept of typicality of quantum correlations for pure states as the probability to generate a nonlocal behaviour with both random state and measurement. Although this typicality is slightly above 5.3\% for the CHSH scenario, for a modest increase in the number of involved qubits it quickly surpasses 99.99\%.

The critical detection efficiency for closing the detection loophole of some modified Bell inequalities

As we know, the violations of Bell inequalities reveal nonlocality. On the other hand, loopholes in any Bell tests can cause the issues in the interpretation of the above conclusion, since an apparent violation of Bell inequality may not correspond to a real violation of local realism. The detection loophole, as an important example, arises when the overall detection efficiency is not larger than a certain threshold value. With the detection loophole, the above-mentioned effect can be observed in many experiments where the partial detected events can cause apparent Bell violations, while the entire ensemble cannot violate them. However, the real violations of Bell inequalities are necessary for device independence quantum information processing tasks. So, it is crucial to investigate the critical detection efficiency for closing the detection loophole of Bell inequalities. Here, by considering some novel Bell inequalities (Mironowicz and Pawlowski in Phys Rev A 88:032319, 2013), we give the critical detection efficiency for closing the detection loophole of these Bell inequalities. Furthermore, we prove the tightness of these detection efficiency bounds. That is, if detection efficiency is not larger than the critical one, we construct local hidden variable models to reproduce these violations. To sum up, if the detection efficiency of experiment exceeds the critical one derived here, the detection loophole is eliminated.

Response in the violation of the Bell inequality to imperfect photon addition and subtraction in noisy squeezed states of light

Violation of Bell inequality is a prominent detection method for quantum correlations present in composite quantum systems, both in finite and infinite dimensions. We investigate the consequence of the violation of local realism based on pseduospin operators when photons are added or subtracted in a single mode or in both the modes of the two-mode squeezed states of light in the presence of noise. In the noiseless situation, we show that for addition (subtraction) of photons in a single mode, there is an overall enhancement in the maximal violation, although we observe an interplay between monotonicity and nonmonotonicity in the violation of Bell inequality depending on the squeezing strength. Moreover, we report that for low squeezing or low number of photons added or subtracted, subtraction in both the modes can lead to higher violation of local realism than that in the case of addition. For any choice of parameters, such ordering is not seen if one compares their entanglement contents. In the event of a faulty twin-beam generator, we obtain a lower than expected squeezing in the state. In such a case, or in imperfect photon addition (subtraction) or under local noise, we find that the violation of local realism by the noise-affected two-mode squeezed states always decreases. Interestingly, however, we notice that photon addition (subtraction) can in general help to conquer the ill effects of noise by enhancing the violation of local realism or by transforming nonviolating states to violating ones, thereby acting as an activating agent.

Survey on the Bell nonlocality of a pair of entangled qudits

The question of how Bell nonlocality behaves in bipartite systems of higher dimensions is addressed. By employing the probability of violation of local realism under random measurements as the figure of merit, we investigate the nonlocality of entangled qudits with dimensions ranging from $d=2$ to $d=7$. We proceed in two complementary directions. First, we study the specific Bell scenario defined by the Collins-Gisin-Linden-Massar-Popescu (CGLMP) inequality. Second, we consider the nonlocality of the same states under a more general perspective, by directly addressing the space of joint probabilities (computing the frequencies of behaviours outside the local polytope). In both approaches we find that the nonlocality decreases as the dimension $d$ grows, but in quite distinct ways. While the drop in the probability of violation is exponential in the CGLMP scenario, it presents, at most, a linear decay in the space of behaviours. Furthermore, in both cases the states that produce maximal numeric violations in the CGLMP inequality present low probabilities of violation in comparison with maximally entangled states, so, no anomaly is observed. Finally, the nonlocality of states with non-maximal Schmidt rank is investigated.

Reconfigurable optical implementation of quantum complex networks

Network theory has played a dominant role in understanding the structure of complex systems and their dynamics. Recently, quantum complex networks, i.e. collections of quantum systems arranged in a non-regular topology, have been theoretically explored leading to significant progress in a multitude of diverse contexts including, e.g., quantum transport, open quantum systems, quantum communication, extreme violation of local realism, and quantum gravity theories. Despite important progress in several quantum platforms, the implementation of complex networks with arbitrary topology in quantum experiments is still a demanding task, especially if we require both a significant size of the network and the capability of generating arbitrary topology—from regular to any kind of non-trivial structure—in a single setup. Here we propose an all optical and reconfigurable implementation of quantum complex networks. The experimental proposal is based on optical frequency combs, parametric processes, pulse shaping and multimode measurements allowing the arbitrary control of the number of the nodes (optical modes) and topology of the links (interactions between the modes) within the network. Moreover, we also show how to simulate quantum dynamics within the network combined with the ability to address its individual nodes. To demonstrate the versatility of these features, we discuss the implementation of two recently proposed probing techniques for quantum complex networks and structured environments.

Testing local-realism and macro-realism under generalized dichotomic measurements

Generalized quantum measurements with two outcomes are fully characterized by two real parameters, dubbed as sharpness parameter and biasedness parameter and they can be linked with different aspects of the experimental setup. It is known that sharpness parameter characterizes precision of the measurements and decreasing sharpness parameter of the measurements reduces the possibility of probing quantum features like quantum mechanical (QM) violation of local-realism (LR) or macro-realism (MR). Here we investigate the effect of biasedness together with that of sharpness of measurements and find a trade-off between those two parameters in the context of probing QM violations of LR and MR. Interestingly, we also find that the above mentioned trade-off is more robust in the latter case.

Relativity, anomalies and objectivity loophole in recent tests of local realism

Abstract Local realism is in conflict with special quantum Bell-type models. Recently, several experiments have demonstrated violation of local realism if we trust their setup assuming special relativity valid. In this paper we question the assumption of relativity, point out not commented anomalies and show that the experiments have not closed objectivity loophole because clonability of the result has not been demonstrated. We propose several improvements in further experimental tests of local realism make the violation more convincing.

Conditional steering under the von Neumann scenario

In [\href{http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/037596019290711T}{Phys. Lett. A {\bf 166}, 293 (1992)}] Popescu characterized nonlocality of pure $n$-partite entangled systems by studying bipartite violation of local realism when $n-2$ number of parties perform projective measurements on their particles. A pertinent question in this scenario is whether similar characterization is possible for $n$-partite mixed entangled states also. In the present work we have followed an analogous approach so as to explore whether given a tripartite mixed entangled state the conditional bipartite states obtained by performing projective measurement on the third party, demonstrate a weaker form of nonlocality, quantum steering. We also compare this new phenomenon of conditional steering with existing notions of tripartite correlations. Interestingly the tripartite state need not be genuinely entangled to demonstrate conditional steering.

Tight bounds for the Pearle-Braunstein-Caves chained inequality without the fair-coincidence assumption

In any Bell test, loopholes can cause issues in the interpretation of the results, since an apparent violation of the inequality may not correspond to a violation of local realism. An important example is the coincidence-time loophole that arises when detector settings might influence the time when detection will occur. This effect can be observed in many experiments where measurement outcomes are to be compared between remote stations because the interpretation of an ostensible Bell violation strongly depends on the method used to decide coincidence. The coincidence-time loophole has previously been studied for the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) and Clauser-Horne (CH) inequalities, but recent experiments have shown the need for a generalization. Here, we study the generalized "chained" inequality by Pearle-Braunstein-Caves (PBC) with two or more settings per observer. This inequality has applications in, for instance, Quantum Key Distribution where it has been used to re-establish security. In this paper we give the minimum coincidence probability for the PBC inequality for all N and show that this bound is tight for a violation free of the fair-coincidence assumption. Thus, if an experiment has a coincidence probability exceeding the critical value derived here, the coincidence-time loophole is eliminated.

Multipartite nonlocality and random measurements

We present an exhaustive numerical analysis of violations of local realism by families of multipartite quantum states. As an indicator of nonclassicality we employ the probability of violation for randomly sampled observables. Surprisingly, it rapidly increases with the number of parties or settings and even for relatively small values local realism is violated for almost all observables. We have observed this effect to be typical in the sense that it emerged for all investigated states including some with randomly drawn coefficients. We also present the probability of violation as a witness of genuine multipartite entanglement.