We report on a Bell experiment with space-like separation assuming that the measurement time is related to gravity-induced state reduction. Two energy-time entangled photons are sent through optical fibers and directed into unbalanced interferometers at two receiving stations separated by 18 km. At each station, the detection of a photon triggers the displacement of a macroscopic mass. The timing ensures space-like separation from the moment a photon enters its interferometer until the mass has moved. 2-photon interference fringes with a visibility of up to 90.5% are obtained, leading to a violation of Bell inequality.
We update our paper: The collapse of Bell determinism (Physics Letters A, 359 (2006): 122-125; available online 16 June 2006). First, we point out that Olivier Brunet, using lattice theoretic methods, has recently, and quite independently, derived the core technical lemma of our paper; see: A priori knowledge and the Kochen-Specker theorem (Physics Letters A, available online 5 January 2007). He has also kindly pointed out a misstep in the last line of one of our results. We discuss the correction and comment on slightly revised notions of how Bell determinism collapses. We also correct a few …
We propose Bell inequalities for discrete or continuous quantum systems which test the compatibility of quantum physics with an interpretation in terms of deterministic hidden-variable theories. The wave function collapse that occurs in a sequence of quantum measurements enters the upper bound via the concept of quantum conditional probabilities. The resulting hidden-variable inequality is applicable to an arbitrary observable that is decomposable into a weighted sum of non-commuting projectors. We present local and non-local examples of violation of generalized Bell inequalities in phase spac…
The purpose of this manuscript is to provide a short pedagogical explanation why "quantum collapse" is not a metaphysical event, by pointing out the analogy with a "classical collapse" which is associated with the Monty Hall Paradox.
Several versions of quantum theory assume some form of localized collapse. If measurement outcomes are indeed defined by localized collapses, then a loophole-free demonstration of Bell non-locality needs to ensure space-like separated collapses associated with the measurements of the entangled systems. This collapse locality loophole remains largely untested, with one significant exception probing Diosi's and Penrose's gravitationally induced collapse hypotheses. I describe here techniques that allow much stronger experimental tests. These apply to all the well known types of collapse postulat…
The Bell-Kochen-Specker conditions (BKS) for a deterministic noncontextual hidden-variable model are wonderfully simple to state, deal with just one-dimensional projectors on a Hilbert space H and make no reference to a probabilistic phase space or quantum system. They only ask for an assignment of zero or one to every projector such that the assignment respects orthogonal resolutions of the identity. Various no-go results in the literature show that the pair of statements {BKS is valid; dim H greater than or equal to 3} are inconsistent. Here we show, more radically, that the pair actually co…
The localization length for the center of mass motion of a matter lump, induced by gravitation, is obtained, without using any phenomenological constants. Its dependence from mass and volume is consistent both with unitary evolution of microscopic particles and with the classical behavior of macroscopic bodies required to account for wave function collapse in quantum measurements, the transition between the two regimes being rather sharp. The gravitational interaction of nonrelativistic matter is modelled by a Yukawa Hamiltonian with vanishing pion mass, no gravitational background is needed a…
A gravity-driven mechanism (``objective reduction'') proposed to explain quantum state reduction is analyzed in light of the possible existence of large extra dimensions in the ADD scenario. By calculating order-of-magnitude estimates for nucleon superpositions, it is shown that if the mechanism at question is correct, constraints may be placed on the number and size of extra dimensions. Hence, measurement of superposition collapse times ({\it e.g.} through diffraction or reflection experiments) could represent a new probe of extra dimensions. The influence of a time-dependent gravitational co…
Monte Carlo simulations of the Freedman-Clauser experiment are used to test the generic wave function collapse model of Quantum Mechanics, a local realistic model, and a dynamical state reduction model of wave function collapse. The simulated results are compared to the actual results of the experiment which confirmed the quantum mechanical calculation for nine different relative angles between the two polarization analyzers. For each simulation $5\times10^7$ total simulated photon pairs were generated at each relative angle. The generic wave function collapse model closely followed the genera…
Past, present and future experimental tests of quantum nonlocality are discussed. Consequences of assuming that the state-vector collapse is a real physical phenomenon in space-time are developed. These lead to experiments feasible with today's technology.
We present a simple calculation leading to the quantum gravitationally-induced decoherence of a spatial superposition of a massive object in the linear coupling regime. The point of this calculation is to illustrate that the gravitationally-induced collapse could be of the same origin as any other collapse, i.e. due to the entanglement between the system (here a massive object) and its environment (in this case gravity, but it could well be the electromagnetic or any other field). We then point out that, in some cases, one has to be careful when concluding that matter-wave interference of larg…
We experimentally demonstrate the nonlocal reversal of a partial-collapse quantum measurement on two-photon entangled state. Both the partial measurement and the reversal operation are implemented in linear optics with two displaced Sagnac interferometers, which are characterized by single qubit quantum process tomography. The recovered state is measured by quantum state tomography and its nonlocality is characterized by testing the Bell inequality. Our result will be helpful in quantum communication and quantum error correction.
We develop a systematic method of solving two non-interacting Jaynes-Cummings models by using the dressed state formalism in Hilbert space $\mathcal{H}_{AB}^{(2\otimes2)}$. It is shown that such model, called Double Jaynes-Cummings model (D-JCM), can be exactly solved if we take the initial bare state as the linear superposition of two Bell states. The collapse and revival oscillation, which is the standard trait of typical Jaynes-Cummings model, can be recovered if we make measurement at each local sites. Some consequence of the entanglement-induced dressing is discussed.
Carrying out a research program outlined by John S. Bell in 1987, we arrive at a relativistic version of the Ghirardi-Rimini-Weber (GRW) model of spontaneous wavefunction collapse. The GRW model was proposed as a solution of the measurement problem of quantum mechanics and involves a stochastic and nonlinear modification of the Schrödinger equation. It deviates very little from the Schrödinger equation for microscopic systems but efficiently suppresses, for macroscopic systems, superpositions of macroscopically different states. As suggested by Bell, we take the primitive ontology, or local be…
We study the entanglement dynamics of two atoms coupled to their own Jaynes-Cummings cavities in single-excitation space. Here we use the concurrence to measure the atomic entanglement. And the partial Bell states as initial states are considered. Our analysis suggests that there exist collapses and recovers in the entanglement dynamics. The physical mechanism behind the entanglement dynamics is the periodical information and energy exchange between atoms and light fields. For the initial Partial Bell states, only if the ratio of two atom-cavity coupling strengths is a rational number, the evo…
This paper furthers the long historical examination of and debate on the foundations of quantum mechanics (QM) by presenting two local hidden variable (LHV) rules in the context of the EPRB experiment which violate Bell's inequality, but which are nevertheless local and deterministic under reasonable definitions of the terms, and coincide approximately with the conventional QM prediction. The theories are based on the general idea of probabilistic detection of particles depending on an interaction of hidden variables within the measuring device and particle, and relate mathematically to Fourie…
We introduce new mathematical aspects of the Bell states using matrix factorizations, nonnoetherian singularities, and noncommutative blowups. A matrix factorization of a polynomial $p$ consists of two matrices $ϕ_1,ϕ_2$ such that $ϕ_1ϕ_2 = ϕ_2ϕ_1 = p \operatorname{id}$. Using this notion, we show how the Bell states emerge from the separable product of two mixtures, by defining pure states over complex matrices rather than just the complex numbers. We then show in an idealized algebraic setting that pure states are supported on nonnoetherian singularities. Moreover, we find that the collapse …
Bell suggested that a new perspective on quantum mechanics was needed. We propose a solution of the measurement problem based on a reconsideration of the nature of particles. The solution is presented with an idealized model involving non-locality or non-separability, identified in 1927 by Einstein and implicit in the standard interpretation of single slit (or hole) diffraction. Considering particles as being localizable entities leads to an `induced collapse model', a parameter-free alternative to spontaneous collapse models, that affords a new perspective on, \emph{inter alia}, nuclear decay…
