Bell non-locality represents the ultimate consequence of quantum entanglement, fundamentally undermining the classical tenet that spatially-separated degrees of freedom possess objective attributes independently of the act of their measurement. Despite its importance, probing Bell non-locality in many-body systems is considered to be a formidable challenge, with a computational cost scaling exponentially with system size. Here we propose and validate an efficient variational scheme, based on the solution of inverse classical Ising problems, which in polynomial time can probe whether an arbitrary set of quantum data is compatible with a local theory; and, if not, it delivers a many-body Bell inequality violated by the quantum data. We use our approach to unveil new many-body Bell inequalities, violated by suitable measurements on paradigmatic quantum states (the low-energy states of Heisenberg antiferromagnets), paving the way to systematic Bell tests in the many-body realm.
We prove here a version of Bell Theorem that does not assume locality. As a consequence classical realism, and not locality, is the common source of the violation by nature of all Bell Inequalities.
Without imposing the locality condition,it is shown that quantum mechanics cannot reproduce all the predictions of a special stochastic realistic model used in certain spin-correlation experiments.This shows that the so-called locality condition is an unnecessary assumption of Bell's theorem.
I argue that quantum mechanics is a realistic theory, but it violates either strong locality (no superluminal influences) or strict causality (diiferent effects cannot follow from the same cause).
We give a analytic quantitative relation between Hardy's non-locality and Bell operator. We find that Hardy's non-locality is a sufficient condition for violation of Bell inequality, the upper bound of Hardy's non-locality allowed by information causality just correspond to Tsirelson bound of Bell inequality, and the upper bound of Hardy's non-locality allowed by the principle of no-signaling just correspond to the algebraic maximum of Bell operator. Then we study the Cabello's argument of Hardy's non-locality (a generalization of Hardy's argument) and find a similar relation between it and vi…
All experimental tests of the violation of Bell's inequality suffer from some loopholes. We show that the locality loophole is not independent of the detection loophole: in experiments using low efficient detectors, the locality loophole can be closed equivalently using active or passive switches.
We propose a method to generate analytical quantum Bell inequalities based on the principle of Macroscopic Locality. By imposing locality over binary processings of virtual macroscopic intensities, we establish a correspondence between Bell inequalities and quantum Bell inequalities in bipartite scenarios with dichotomic observables. We discuss how to improve the latter approximation and how to extend our ideas to scenarios with more than two outcomes per setting.
We prove that the locality condition is irrelevant to Bell in equality. We check that the real origin of the Bell's inequality is the assumption of applicability of classical (Kolmogorovian) probability theory to quantum mechanics. We describe the chameleon effect which allows to construct an experiment realizing a local, realistic, classical, deterministic and macroscopic violation of the Bell inequalities.
Quantized detector networks (QDN) deals with quantum information exchange between observers and their apparatus rather than with systems under observation. Partial observations in QDN involve subsets of the elementary signal detectors which constitute an apparatus. We use them to prove that QDN is consistent with Einstein locality and violations of Bell-type inequalities.
We present some general considerations on possible experimental tests of Bell's locality in the neutral kaon system, and comment on the recent literature on the topic.
For a special stochastic realistic model in certain spin-correlation experiments and without imposing the locality condition, an inequality is found. Then, it is shown that quantum theory is able (is possible) to violate this inequality. This shows that, irrelevance of the locality condition, the quantum entanglement of the spin singlet-state is the reason for the violation of Bell's inequality in Bell's theorem.
Locality and realism are two main assumptions in deriving Bell's inequalities. Though the experimentally demonstrated violations of Bell's inequalities rule out local realism, it is, however, not clear what role each of the two assumptions solely plays in the observed violations. Here we show that two testable inequalities for the statistical predictions of two-qubit systems can be derived by assuming either locality or realism. It turns out that quantum mechanics respects a nonlocal classical realism, and it is locality that is incompatible with experimental observations and quantum mechanics…
The 1964 theorem of John Bell shows that no model that reproduces the predictions of quantum mechanics can simultaneously satisfy the assumptions of locality and determinism. On the other hand, the assumptions of \emph{signal locality} plus \emph{predictability} are also sufficient to derive Bell inequalities. This simple theorem, previously noted but published only relatively recently by Masanes, Acin and Gisin, has fundamental implications not entirely appreciated. Firstly, nothing can be concluded about the ontological assumptions of locality or determinism independently of each other -- it…
The categorization of quantum states for composite systems as either separable or entangled, or alternatively as Bell local or Bell non-local states based on local hidden variable theory is reviewed in Sections 1 and 2, focusing on simple bipartite systems. The significance of states demonstrating Bell non-locality for settling the long standing controversy between the Copenhagen interpretation of the quantum measurement process involving the collapse of the wave-function and the alternative interpretation based on pre-existing hidden variables is emphasized. Although experiments demonstrating…
We prove here a version of Bell's Theorem that is simpler than any previous one. The contradiction of Bell's inequality with Quantum Mechanics in the new version is not cured by non-locality so that this version allows one to single out classical realism, and not locality, as the common source of all false inequalities of Bell's type.
Using the Clauser-Horne model of Bell's theorem, the locality condition is examined and it is shown the corresponding formulation is equivalent to a factorization process consisting of three stages. The first stage is introduced based on the conditional probability definition in classical theory of probability and the other two stages are based on previously-known relations named as outcome and parameter independence conditions.
We study multipartite correlations and non-locality in an isotropic Ising ring under transverse magnetic field at both zero and finite temperature. We highlight parity-induced differences between the multipartite Bell-like functions used in order to quantify the degree of non-locality within a ring state and reveal a mechanism for the passive protection of multipartite quantum correlations against thermal spoiling effects that is clearly related to the macroscopic properties of the ring model.
We prove versions of the Bell and the GHZ Theorems that do not assume Locality but only the Effect After Cause Principle (EACP) according to which for any Lorentz observer the value of an observable cannot change because of an event that happens after the observable is measured. We show that the EACP is strictly weaker than Locality. As a consequence of our results, Locality cannot be considered as the common cause of the contradictions obtained in all versions of Bell's Theory. All versions of Bell's Theorem assume Weak Realism according to which the value of an observable is well defined whe…
In a recent paper published in PNAS authors prove that locality and free choice are equivalent resources which need to be relaxed in order to fully reproduce some statistics in Bell experiments (while always maintaining realism). We explain that their assumption of free choice is simply counterfactual definiteness or noncontextuality. Therefore the resource in Bell experiments is contextuality and not the violations of locality and/or of free choice. It is definitely less mind boggling conclusion because experimenters` freedom of choice is a prerequisite of science,
Bounds, expressed in terms of d and N, on full Bell locality of a quantum state for $N\geq 3$ nonlocally entangled qudits (of a dimension $d\geq 2$) mixed with white noise are known, to our knowledge, only within full separability of this noisy N-qudit state. For the maximal violation of general Bell inequalities by an N-partite quantum state, we specify the analytical upper bound expressed in terms of dilation characteristics of this state, and this allows us to find new general bounds in $d, N$, valid for all $d\geq 2$ and all $N\geq 3$, on full Bell locality under generalized quantum measur…
Reviewing the general representation of a stochastic local hidden variables theory in the context of an ideal Bohm's version of the EPR experiment, we show explicitly that the violation of Bell's locality condition is due to the assumption of ``outcome independence'' at the hidden variables level. Also, we show that if we introduce determinism, the assumption of outcome independence will be allowed.
It is demonstrated that hidden variables of a certain type follow logically from a certain local causality requirement (``Bell Locality'') and the empirically well-supported predictions of quantum theory for the standard EPR-Bell setup. The demonstrated hidden variables are precisely those needed for the derivation of the Bell Inequalities. We thus refute the widespread view that empirical violations of Bell Inequalities leave open a choice of whether to reject (i) locality or (ii) hidden variables. Both principles are indeed assumed in the derivation of the inequalities, but since, as we demo…
Bell's theorem, stating that quantum predictions are incompatible with a local hidden variable description, is a cornerstone of quantum theory and at the center of many quantum information processing protocols. Over the years, different perspectives on non-locality have been put forward as well as different ways to to detect non-locality and quantify it. Unfortunately and in spite of its relevance, as the complexity of the Bell scenario increases, deciding whether a given observed correlation is non-local becomes computationally intractable. Here, we propose to analyse a Bell scenario as a ten…
The question has been solved whether Bell's inequalities cover all possible kinds of hidden-variable theories. It has been shown that the given nequalities can be hardly derived when the changing space position of photon-pair source together with the microscopic space structure of measuring devices are taken into account; and when corresponding impact parameters (i.e., exact impact points) of photons in individual measuring devices (polarizers) influence measured values, in addition to usually considered characteristics.
The worst violation of Bell's inequality for $n$ qbits is of size $2^{\frac{n-1}{2}}$ and it is obtained by a specific operator acting on a specific state. We show, to the contrary, that for a vast majority of Bell operators the worst violation is bounded by $O((n\log n)^{1/2})$, below experimental detection. With respect to the extremal operators, introduced by Werner and Wolf [Phys. Rev. A 64, 032112 (2001)], we show that a large majority of them have a norm bounded by $O(n^{1/2})$.
A new formulation of the EPR argument is presented, one which uses John Bell's mathematically precise local causality condition in place of the looser locality assumption which was used in the original EPR paper and on which Niels Bohr seems to have based his objection to the EPR argument. The new formulation of EPR bears a striking resemblance to Bell's derivation of his famous inequalities. The relation between these two arguments -- in particular, the role of EPR as part one of Bell's two-part argument for nonlocality -- is also discussed in detail.
One way to deal with the fact that many versions of reality simultanenously exist in the wave function is to suppose there are hidden variables that single out one version for perception. Bell showed theoretically and the Aspect experiment confirmed that there could be no hidden variable theory which satisfied a locality condition. We show here that the locality condition can be derived from the well-established principle of the relativity of simultaneity. Thus virtually all hidden variable theories, not just obviously local ones, are in conflict with the results of the Aspect experiment and a…
Bell's theorem states that some quantum correlations can not be represented by classical correlations of separated random variables. It has been interpreted as incompatibility of the requirement of locality with quantum mechanics. We point out that in fact the space part of the wave function was neglected in the proof of Bell's theorem. However this space part is crucial for considerations of property of locality of quantum system. Actually the space part leads to an extra factor in quantum correlations and as a result the ordinary proof of Bell's theorem fails in this case. We present a crite…
By implicitly assuming that all measurements occur simultaneously, Bell's Theorem only applied to local theories that violated Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. By explicitly introducing time into our derivation of Bell's theorem, an extra term related to the time-ordering of actual measurements is found to augment (i.e. weaken) the upper bound of the inequality. Since the same locality assumptions hold for this rederivation as for the original, we conclude that only {\em classical} measurement-order independent local hidden variable theories are constrained by Bell's inequality; time depend…
We prove a version of the Bell's Theorem that does not assume Locality but only the Effect After Cause Principle (EACP) according to which for any Lorentz observer the value of an observable cannot change because of an event that happens after the observable is measured. Since the EACP is compatible both with Locality and with Non-Locality, Locality cannot be considered as the common cause of the contradictions obtained in all versions of Bell's Theory. By definition, all versions of Bell's Theorem assume Weak Realism according to which the value of an observable needed in the discussion of Be…
We observe strong violation of Bell's inequality in an Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen type experiment with independent observers. Our experiment definitely implements the ideas behind the well known work by Aspect et al. We for the first time fully enforce the condition of locality, a central assumption in the derivation of Bell's theorem. The necessary space-like separation of the observations is achieved by sufficient physical distance between the measurement stations, by ultra-fast and random setting of the analyzers, and by completely independent data registration.
Most physicists agree that the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen-Bell paradox exemplifies much of the strange behavior of quantum mechanics, but argument persists about what assumptions underlie the paradox. To clarify what the debate is about, we employ a simple and well-known thought experiment involving two correlated photons to help us focus on the logical assumptions needed to construct the EPR and Bell arguments. The view presented in this paper is that the minimal assumptions behind Bell's inequality are locality and counterfactual definiteness, but not scientific realism, determinism, or hidden …
Bell nonlocality and Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) steering are every important quantum correlations of a composite quantum system. Bell nonlocality of a bipartite state is a quantum correlation demonstrated by some local quantum measurements, while EPR steering is another form of quantum correlations, observed firstly by Schrodinger in the context of famous EPR paradox. In this paper, we give some remarks on Bell nonlocality and EPR steering of bipartite states, including mathematical definitions and characterizations of these two quantum correlations, the convexity and closedness of the set …
I present the background of the Bohm approach that led John Bell to a study of quantum non-locality from which his famous inequalities emerged. I recall the early experiments done at Birkbeck with an aim to explore the possibility of `spontaneous collapse', a way suggested by Schrödinger to avoid the conclusion that quantum mechanics was grossly non-local. I also review some of the work that John did which directly impinged on my own investigations into the foundations of quantum mechanics and report some new investigations towards a more fundamental theory.
Some years ago Aerts et al. presented a macroscopic model in which the amount of non-locality and indeterminism could be continuously varied, and used it to show that by increasing non-locality one increases, as expected, the degree of violation of Bell's inequality (BI), whereas, more surprisingly, by increasing indeterminism one decreases the degree of the violation of BI. In this note we propose a different macroscopic model in which the amount of non-locality and indeterminism can also be parameterized, and therefore varied, and we find that, in accordance with the model of Aerts et al., a…
Bell's theorem is a statement by which averages obtained from specific types of statistical distributions must conform to a family of inequalities. These models, in accordance with the EPR argument, provide for the simultaneous existence of quantum mechanically incompatible quantities. We first recall several contradictions arising between the assumption of a joint distribution for incompatible observables and the probability structure of quantum-mechanics, and conclude that Bell's theorem is not expected to be relevant to quantum phenomena described by non-commuting observables, irrespective …
While initial versions of Bell's theorem captured the notion of locality with the assumption of factorizability, in later presentations, Bell argued that factorizability could be derived from the more fundamental principle of local causality. Here we show that, contrary to what is commonly assumed, in order to derive factorizability from the principle of local causality, a non-trivial assumption, similar but strictly independent of settings independence, is required. Loosely speaking, such an extra assumption demands independence between the states of the measurement apparatuses. We conclude t…
When a collection of distant observers share an entangled quantum state, the statistical correlations among their measurements may violate a many-body Bell inequality, demonstrating a non-local behavior. Focusing on the Ising model in a transverse-field with power-law ($1/r^α$) ferromagnetic interactions, we show that a permutationally invariant Bell inequality based on two-body correlations is violated in the vicinity of the quantum-critical point. This observation, obtained via analytical spin-wave calculations and numerical density-matrix renormalization group computations, is traced back t…
We derive a Bell-like inequality involving all correlations in local observables with uncertainty free states and show that the inequality is violated in quantum mechanics for EPR and GHZ states. If the uncertainties are allowed in local observables then the statistical predictions of hidden variable theory is well respected in quantum world. We argue that the uncertainties play a key role in understanding the non-locality issues in quantum world. Thus we can not rule out the possibility that a local, realistic hidden variable theory with statistical uncertainties in the observables might repr…
In a Bell test, the set of observed probability distributions complying with the principle of local realism is fully characterized by Bell inequalities. Quantum theory allows for a violation of these inequalities, which is famously regarded as Bell nonlocality. However, finding the maximal degree of this violation is, in general, an undecidable problem. Consequently, no algorithm can be used to derive quantum analogs of Bell inequalities, which would characterize the set of probability distributions allowed by quantum theory. Here we present a family of inequalities, which approximate the set …
Measurements performed on distant parts of an entangled quantum state can generate correlations incompatible with classical theories respecting the assumption of local causality. This is the phenomenon known as quantum non-locality that, apart from its fundamental role, can also be put to practical use in applications such as cryptography and distributed computing. Clearly, developing ways of quantifying non-locality is an important primitive in this scenario. Here, we propose to quantify the non-locality of a given probability distribution via its trace distance to the set of classical correl…
We give a set of necessary conditions for locality in bipartite systems, which include and generalize known Bell's inequalities. Each condition corresponds to a specific order of the expansion of random variables defined on graphs, in terms of genuinely n-variable correlation functions. The first non-trivial order leads to known Bell inequalities, while higher orders produce additional, non-equivalent conditions. In particular, in CHSH settings, we obtain at least two additional tight conditions which do not reduce to the CHSH inequality. This shows that tight Bell inequalities are sufficient …
Bell non-locality and Kochen-Specker (KS) contextuality are logically independent concepts, fuel different protocols with quantum vs classical advantage, and have distinct classical simulation costs. A natural question is what are the relations between these concepts, advantages, and costs. To address this question, it is useful to have a map that captures all the connections between Bell non-locality and KS contextuality in quantum theory. The aim of this work is to introduce such a map. After defining the theory-independent notions of Bell non-locality and KS contextuality for ideal measurem…
Measurement incompatibility and quantum non-locality are two key features of quantum theory. Violations of Bell inequalities require quantum entanglement and incompatibility of the measurements used by the two parties involved in the protocol. We analyze the converse question: for which Bell inequalities is the incompatibility of measurements enough to ensure a quantum violation? We relate the two questions by comparing two tensor norms on the space of dichotomic quantum measurements: one characterizing measurement compatibility and the second one characterizing violations of a given Bell ineq…
By assuming a deterministic evolution of quantum systems and taking realism into account, we carefully build a hidden variable theory for Quantum Mechanics based on the notion of ontological states proposed by 't Hooft. We view these ontological states as the ones embedded with realism and compare them to the (usual) quantum states that represent superpositions, viewing the latter as mere information of the system they describe. Such a deterministic model puts forward conditions for the applicability of Bell's inequality: the usual inequality cannot be applied to the usual experiments. We buil…
Maudlin has claimed that no local theory can reproduce the predictions of standard quantum mechanics that violate Bell's inequality for Bohm's version (two spin-half particles in a singlet state) of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen problem. It is argued that, on the contrary, standard quantum mechanics itself is a counterexample to Maudlin's claim, because it is local in the appropriate sense (measurements at one place do not influence what occurs elsewhere there) when formulated using consistent principles in place of the inconsistent appeals to "measurement" found in current textbooks. This argum…
Using Bell-inequalities as a tool to explore non-classical physical behaviours, in this paper we analyze what one can expect to find in many-body quantum physics. Concretely, framing the usual correlation scenarios as a concrete spin-lattice, we want to know whether or not it is possible to violate a Bell-inequality restricted to this scenario. Using clustering theorems, we are able to show that a large family of quantum many-body systems behave almost locally, violating Bell-inequalities (if so) only by a non-significant amount. We also provide examples, explain some of our assumptions via co…
We construct a space of ideal elements (particles and their paths) to analyze certain aspects of quantum physics. The particles are taken from a model of particle interaction first described by David Deutsch (based on a different but related framework, that of MWI), and the paths are based on Richard Feynman's path-integral formulation of quantum mechanics. By combining the two systems we develop a new approach to quantum mechanics that eliminates various quantum paradoxes.
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…
