We revisit the "counterfactual quantum communication" of Salih et al. [1], who claim that an observer "Bob" can send one bit of information to a second observer "Alice" without any physical particle traveling between them. We show that a locally conserved, massless current - specifically, a current of modular angular momentum, $L_z$ mod 2$\hbar$ - carries the one bit of information. We integrate the flux of $L_z$ mod 2$\hbar$ from Bob to Alice and show that it equals one of the two eigenvalues of $L_z$ mod 2$\hbar$, either 0 or $\hbar$, thus precisely accounting for the one bit of information he sends her. We previously [2] obtained this result using weak values of $L_z$ mod 2$\hbar$; here we do not use weak values.
It is shown that the outcomes of measurements on systems in separable mixed states can be partitioned, via subsequent measurements on a disentangled extraneous system, into subensembles that display the statistics of entangled states. This motivates the introduction of the concept of "counterfactual" entanglement, which can be associated with all separable mixed states including those that are factorable. This type of entanglement gives rise to a new kind of postselection-induced Bell inequality violation. The significance of counterfactual entanglement, and its physical implications, are asse…
Two objections have been raised to the arguments presented in O. Cohen, Phys. Rev. A 60, 80 (1999). It is pointed out that neither objection has anything whatsoever to do with the main subject matter of that paper, and shown that both objections are based on misunderstandings of the examples to which they relate.
The paper develops a version of modal logic that stays completely within the framework provided by quantum principles, and then proves, within the framework of quantum thinking, and in particular without invoking "hidden variables", a Bell-type nonlocality result.
Stapp's counterfactual argument for quantum nonlocality based upon a Hardy entangled state is shown to be flawed. While he has correctly analyzed a particular framework using the method of consistent histories, there are alternative frameworks which do not support his argument. The framework dependence of quantum counterfactual arguments, with analogs in classical counterfactuals, vitiates the claim that nonlocal (superluminal) influences exist in the quantum world. Instead it shows that counterfactual arguments are of limited use for analyzing these questions.
We demonstrate quantum information can be transferred between two distant participants without any physical particles travelling between them. The key procedure of the counterfactual scheme is to entangle two nonlocal qubits with each other without interaction, so the scheme can also be used to generate nonlocal entanglement counterfactually. We here illustrate the scheme by using flying photon qubits and stationary electron-spin qubits assisted by quantum dots inside double-sided optical microcavities. Unlike the typical teleportation, the present scheme does not require prior entanglement sh…
Here we present a Multiple Observer Probability Analysis (MOPA) for the purpose of clarifying topics in experimental Bell scenarios. Because Bell scenarios are interested in quantum effects between nonlocal measurement devices, we assign an observer to each device: Alice and Bob. Given that the observers are stationary and space-like separated, each observer is privy to different information along their shared equi-temporal lines due to permutations in the order they observe events. Therefore, each observer is inclined to assign different probability distributions to the same set of propositio…
An analysis using classical stochastic processes is used to construct a consistent system of quantum counterfactual reasoning. When applied to a counterfactual version of Hardy's paradox, it shows that the probabilistic character of quantum reasoning together with the ``one framework'' rule prevents a logical contradiction, and there is no evidence for any mysterious nonlocal influences. Counterfactual reasoning can support a realistic interpretation of standard quantum theory (measurements reveal what is actually there) under appropriate circumstances.
I purport to show why old and new claims on the role of counterfactual reasoning for the EPR argument and the Bell theorem are unjustified: once the logical relation between locality and counterfactual reasoning is clarified, the use of the latter does no harm and the nonlocality result can well follow from the EPR premises. To show why, I critically review (i) incompleteness arguments that Einstein developed before the EPR paper, and (ii) more recent claims that equate the use of counterfactual reasoning with the assumption of a strong form of realism.
In honor of Daniel Greenberger's 65th birthday I record for posterity two superb examples of his wit, offer a proof of an important theorem on quantum correlations that even those of us over 60 can understand, and suggest, by trying to make it look silly, that invoking ``quantum nonlocality'' as an explanation for such correlations may be too cheap a way out of the dilemma they pose.
Counterfactual quantum communication is unique in its own way that allows remote parties to transfer information without sending any message carrier in the channel. Although no message carrier travels in the channel at the time of successful information transmission, it is impossible to transmit information faster than the speed of light, thus without an information carrier. In this paper, we address an important question What carries the information in counterfactual quantum communication? and optimize the resource efficiency of the counterfactual quantum communication in terms of the number …
Three arguments based on the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) proof of the nonexistence of local hidden variables are presented. The first is a description of a simple game which a team that uses the GHZ method will always win. The second uses counterfactuals in an attempt to show that quantum theory is nonlocal in a stronger sense than is implied by the nonexistence of local hidden variables and the third describes peculiar features of time-symmetrized counterfactuals in quantum theory.
We show that, contrary to what is claimed in Ref. [J. Jeffers, Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 143602 (2019)], there is no nonlocal coherent absorption by the two lossy beam splitters considered in detail in the treatment of the setup presented in this reference. What happens is a local coherent absorption by the other two lossy beam splitters of the setup.
A currently discussed interpretation of quantum theory, Time-Symmetrized Quantum Theory, makes certain claims about the properties of systems between pre- and post- selection measurements. These claims are based on a counterfactual usage of the Aharonov-Bergmann-Lebowitz (ABL) rule for calculating the probabilities of measurement outcomes between such measurements. It has been argued by several authors that the counterfactual usage of the ABL rule is, in general, incorrect. This paper examines what might appear to be a loophole in those arguments and shows that this apparent loophole cannot be…
In a recent article under the above title (but without the question mark) Henry Stapp presented arguments which lead him to conclude that under suitable conditions ``the truth of a statement that refers only to phenomena confined to an earlier time'' must ``depend on which measurement an experimenter freely chooses to perform at a later time.'' I point out that the reasoning leading to this conclusion relies on an essential ambiguity regarding the meaning of the expression ``statement that refers only to phenomena confined to an earlier time'' when such a statement contains counterfactual cond…
Mohrhoff proposes using the Aharonov-Bergmann-Lebowitz (ABL) rule for time-symmetric ``objective'' (meaning non-epistemic) probabilities corresponding to the possible outcomes of not-actually-performed measurements between specified pre- and post-selection measurement outcomes. It is emphasized that the ABL rule was formulated on the assumption that such intervening measurements are actually made and that it does not necessarily apply to counterfactual situations. The exact nature of the application of the ABL rule considered by Mohrhoff is made explicit and is shown to fall short of his state…
What violations of Bell inequalities teach us is that the world is quantum mechanical, i.e., nonclassical. Assertions that they imply the world is nonlocal arise from ignoring differences between quantum and classical physics.
We introduce a scheme for fault tolerantly dealing with losses (or other "leakage" errors) in cluster state computation that can tolerate up to 50% qubit loss. This is achieved passively using an adaptive strategy of measurement - no coherent measurements or coherent correction is required. Since the scheme relies on inferring information about what would have been the outcome of a measurement had one been able to carry it out, we call this "counterfactual" error correction.
The Aharonov-Bergmann-Lebowitz rule assigns probabilities to quantum measurement results at time t on the condition that the system is prepared in a given way at t_1 < t and found in a given state at t_2 > t. The question whether the rule can also be applied counterfactually to the case where no measurement is performed at the intermediate time t has recently been the subject of controversy. I argue that the counterfactual meaning may be understood in terms of the true value of an observable at t. Such a value cannot be empirically determined for, by stipulation, the measurement that would yie…
Considering what the world would be like if backwards causation were possible is usually mind-bending. Here I discuss something that is easier to study: a toy model that incorporates a very restricted sort of backwards causation. It defines particle world lines by means of a kind of differential delay equation with negative delay. The model presumably prohibits signalling to the past and superluminal signalling, but allows nonlocality while being fully covariant. And that is what constitutes the model's value: it is an explicit example of the possibility of Lorentz invariant nonlocality. That …
Contrary to counterfactual definiteness quantum theory teaches us that measuring instruments are not passively reading predetermined values of physical observables. Counterfactual definiteness allows proving Bell inequalities. If the contextual character of quantum measurements is correctly taken into account the proofs of these inequalities may not be done. In recent computer simulations of idealized Bell experiment predetermined successive outcomes of measurements for each setting and predetermined time delays of their registrations are calculated. Time windows and time delays are used to se…
A violation of Bell-CHSH inequalities does not justify speculations about quantum non-locality, conspiracy and retro-causation. Such speculations are rooted in a belief that setting dependence of hidden variables in a probabilistic model, called a violation of measurement independence, would mean a violation of experimenters freedom of choice. This belief is unfounded because it is based on a questionable use of Bayes Theorem and on incorrect causal interpretation of conditional probabilities. In Bell-local realistic model, hidden variables describe only photonic beams created by a source, thu…
