In the present work we investigate the possibility of superluminal information transmission in quantum theory. We give simple and general arguments to prove that the general structure (Hilbert's space plus instantaneous state reduction) of the theory allows the existence of superluminal communication. We discuss how this relates with existing no-signalling theorems.
Though both theoretical and experimental investigations have revealed the superluminal behavior of evanescent electromagnetic waves, there are many disputes about the physical meaning and validity of such superluminal phenomenon, which is due to the fact that the traditional investigations are based on the theory of tunneling time, and concerned with the problem of what the group velocity of evanescent waves means. In this paper, by studying the quantum probability amplitude for photons to propagate over a spacelike interval along an undersized waveguide, we present theoretical evidence for su…
Applying the fact that guided photons inside a waveguide can be treated as massive particles, one can study the superluminality of evanescent modes via showing that a massive particle can propagate over a spacelike interval, which corresponds to quantum tunneling effects. For this purpose, we treat the particle as a quantum reference frame, while attach an inertia observer to a classical reference frame, and then quantize the formulae for the Lorentz transformation between the quantum and classical reference frames, from which we obtain the conclusion that, owing to the Heisenberg's uncertaint…
Quantum theory is compatible with special relativity. In particular, though measurements on entangled systems are correlated in a way that cannot be reproduced by local hidden variables, they cannot be used for superluminal signalling. As Czachor, Gisin and Polchinski pointed out, this is not true for general nonlinear modifications of the Schroedinger equation. Excluding superluminal signalling has thus been taken to rule out most nonlinear versions of quantum theory. The no superluminal signalling constraint has also been used for alternative derivations of the optimal fidelities attainable …
In this work we analyse critically Griffiths's example of the classical superluminal motion of a bug shadow. Griffiths considers that this example is conceptually very close to quantum nonlocality or superluminality,i.e. quantum breaking of the famous Bell inequality. Or, generally, he suggests implicitly an absolute asymmetric duality (subluminality vs. superluminality) principle in any fundamental physical theory.It, he hopes, can be used for a natural interpretation of the quantum mechanics too. But we explain that such Griffiths's interpretation retires implicitly but significantly from us…
We present a simple electronic circuit which provides negative group delays for band-limited, base-band pulses. It is shown that large time advancement comparable to the pulse width can be achieved with appropriate cascading of negative-delay circuits but eventually the out-of-band gain limits the number of cascading. The relations to superluminality and causality are also discussed.
We analyze the propagation of a pulse across a vacuum gap separating opposite flat parallel faces of two transparent dielectrics by means of an explicitly causal and retarded propagator constructed directly from the free-space wave equation. Nevertheless, our approach yields apparently superluminal propagation for the case of frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR), that is, a transmitted wave packet appears on the far side of the gap at the same time that the corresponding incident packet crosses the front one. Thus, in this example superluminality is just an illusion, being consistent wi…
We exploit the analogy between tunnelling across a potential barrier and Aharonov's weak measurements to resolve the long standing paradox between the impossibility to exceed the speed of light and the seemingly 'superluminal' behaviur of the tunnelling particle in the barrier. We demonstrate that 'superluminality' occurs when the value of the duration $τ$ spent in the barrier is uncertain, whereas when $τ$ is known accurately, no 'superluminal' behaviur is observed. In all cases only subluminal durations contribute to the transmission, which precludes faster-than-light information transfer, a…
Contrary to mechanical waves, the two-slit interference experiment of single photons shows that the behavior of classical electromagnetic waves corresponds to the quantum mechanical one of single photons, which is also different from the quantum-field-theory behavior such as the creations and annihilations of photons, the vacuum fluctuations, etc. Owing to a purely quantum effect, quantum tunneling particles including tunneling photons (evanescent modes) can propagate over a spacelike interval without destroying causality. With this picture we conclude that the superluminality of evanescent mo…
We deeply analyze the possibility to achieve quantum superluminal communication beyond the domain of special relativity and present quantum theory, and show that when using the conscious object as one part of the measuring device, quantum superluminal communication may be a natural thing.
This note analyzed the angle-distribution of the probabilities of two-photon states come out of a single-photon's stimulated emission amplification, show that one can exploit EPR photon pairs combined with stimulated emission to realize superluminal signaling.
We show that the quantum superluminal communication based on the quantum nonlocal influence, if exists, will not result in the causal loop, this conclusion is essentially determined by the peculiarity of the quantum nonlocal influence itself, according to which there must exist a preferred Lorentz frame for consistently describing the quantum nonlocal process.
We analyze in detail photon production induced by a superluminal refractive index perturbation in realistic experimental operating conditions. The interaction between the refractive index perturbation and the quantum vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field leads to the production of photon pairs.
Superluminal communications have been proposed to solve the Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen (EPR) paradox. So far, no evidence for these superluminal communications has been obtained and only lower bounds for the superluminal velocities have been established. In this paper we describe an improved experiment that increases by about two orders of magnitude the maximum detectable superluminal velocities. The locality, the freedom-of-choice and the detection loopholes are not addressed here. No evidence for superluminal communications has been found and a new higher lower bound for their velocities h…
I present a schema for a superluminal telecommunication system based on polarization entangled photon pairs. Binary signals can be transmitted at superluminal speed in this system, if entangled photon pairs can really be produced. The existence of the polarization entangled photon pairs is in direct contradiction to the relativistic causality in this telecommunication system. This contradiction implies the impossibility of generating entangled photon pairs.
We argue that the claim given in quant-ph/9801014 is untenable. The fallacy in the proof is a misinterpretation of the no-cloning theorem, which does not allow quantum jumps, specifically measurements.
As shown in the \emph{EPR} paper (Einstein, Podolsky e Rosen, 1935), Quantum Mechanics is a non-local Theory. The Bell theorem and the successive experiments ruled out the possibility of explaining quantum correlations using only local hidden variables models. Some authors suggested that quantum correlations could be due to superluminal communications that propagate isotropically with velocity \emph{$v_{t}>c$} in a preferred reference frame. For finite values of \emph{$v_{t}$} and in some special cases, Quantum Mechanics and superluminal models lead to different predictions. So far, no deviati…
We propose a bimetric space-time consisting of two vierbein bundles, in which a superluminal S-field mediates a causal exchange of quantum information associated with quantum entanglement. The resulting theory leaves the usual quantum field interactions, as well as the speed of light unchanged, but introduces quantum information effects related to the S-field vierbein bundle. We show that such S-field interactions with the Dirac field, affect its spin density, as we would expect for a field that would impart entanglement related information.
This is an analysis of some aspects of an old but still controversial topic, superluminal quantum tunneling. Some features of quantum tunneling described in literature, such as definition of the tunneling time and a frequency range of a signal, are discussed. The argument is presented that claim of superluminal signaling allegedly observed in frustrated internal reflection experiment was based on the wrong interpretation of the tunneling process. A thought experiment similar to that in the Tolman paradox is discussed. It shows that a new factor, attenuation, comes in the interplay between tunn…
We argue that the claim given in quant-ph/9801014 remains untenable in the revised version. The fallacy in the proof is a misinterpretation of the no-cloning and teleportation theorems, which do not involve time and reference frames.
This paper shall define and discuss two types of quantum process - Disentangling and Entangling. The first type will be shown to contradict Unitarity and is therefore ruled out as a possible signalling process within standard linear Quantum Mechanics. The paper will argue that the second type - the entangling process - is both allowed by the principles of Quantum Mechanics, and can transmit superluminal signals. A proposal will be made for addressing the objection to superluminal signalling by the Special Theory of Relativity.
The paper attempts to solve the well known conflict between Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. Accordingly to our concept the instant correlations between the EPR-partners can be explained by some oscillations existence whose propagation velocity may overcome the velocity of light in vacuum. In such process any irreversible transport of energy and information is absent, so the relativistic causality principle is satisfied.
Since Bell's theorem, it is known that quantum correlations cannot be described by local variables (LV) alone: if one does not want to abandon classical mechanisms for correlations, a superluminal form of communication among the particles must be postulated. A natural question is whether such a postulate would imply the possibility of superluminal signaling. Here we show that the assumption of finite-speed superluminal communication indeed leads to signaling when no LV are present, and more generally when only LV derivable from quantum statistics are allowed. When the most general LV are allow…
We show that nonlocality of quantum mechanics cannot lead to superluminal transmission of information, even if most general local operations are allowed, as long as they are linear and trace preserving. In particular, any quantum mechanical approximate cloning transformation does not allow signalling. On the other hand, the no-signalling constraint on its own is not sufficient to prevent a transformation from surpassing the known cloning bounds. We illustrate these concepts on the basis of some examples.
It has been shown that local quantum measurements and no-signaling imply quantum correlations (Barnum et al. Phys. Rev. Lett., 104, 140401 (2010)). This entails that superquantum correlations will be superluminaly signaling if we admit the validity of local quantum mechanics. We present a specific, simple instance of this situation. Our result also has the interpretation that replacing the local (trivial) dynamics in a generalized non-signaling theory (GNST) by one that admits local unitaries, results in a probability distribution that may be positive and normalization-preserving but violates …
It is a frequent assumption that - via superluminal information transfers - superluminal signals capable of enabling communication are necessarily exchanged in any quantum theory that posits hidden superluminal influences. However, does the presence of hidden superluminal influences automatically imply superluminal signalling and communication? The non-signalling theorem mediates the apparent conflict between quantum mechanics and the theory of special relativity. However, as a 'no-go' theorem there exist two opposing interpretations of the non-signalling constraint: foundational and operation…
Simulating quantum phenomena in extreme spacetimes in the laboratory represents a powerful approach to explore fundamental physics in the interplay of quantum field theory and general relativity. Here we propose to simulate the movement of a Dirac particle propagating with a superluminal velocity caused by the emergent Alcubierre warp drive spacetime using trapped ions. We demonstrate that the platform allows observing the tilted lightcone that manifests as a superluminal velocity, which is in agreement with the prediction of general relativity. Furthermore, the Zitterbewegung effect arising f…
We examine the propagation of a weak probe light through a coherently driven $Y$-type system. Under the condition that the excited atomic levels decay via same vacuum modes, the effects of quantum interference in decay channels are considered. It is found that the interference in decay channels results in a lossless anomalous dispersion between two gain peaks. We demonstrate that the probe pulse propagation can in principle be switched from subluminal to superluminal due to the decay-induced interference. We also show that the system exhibits a high index of refraction with negligible absorpti…
Causal "superluminal" effects have recently been observed and discussed in various contexts. The question arises whether such effects could be observed with extremely weak pulses, and what would prevent the observation of an "optical tachyon." Aharonov, Reznik, and Stern (ARS) [Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 81, 2190 (1998)] have argued that quantum noise will preclude the observation of a superluminal group velocity when the pulse consists of one or a few photons. In this paper we reconsider this question both in a general framework and in the specific example, suggested by Chiao, Kozhekin, and Kuriz…
The experimental violation of Bell inequalities using spacelike separated measurements precludes the explanation of quantum correlations through causal influences propagating at subluminal speed. Yet, any such experimental violation could always be explained in principle through models based on hidden influences propagating at a finite speed v>c, provided v is large enough. Here, we show that for any finite speed v with c<v<infinity, such models predict correlations that can be exploited for faster-than-light communication. This superluminal communication does not require access to any hidden …
Apparently 'superluminal' transmission, e.g., in quantum tunnelling and its variants, occurs via a subtle interference mechanism which allows reconstruction of the entire spacial shape of a wave packet from its front tail. It is unlikely that the effect could be described adequately in simpler terms.
In a recent Letter (Phys. Rev. Lett. 95 (2005) 010503) Barrett, Hardy and Kent (BHK) considered a very interesting question which of the fundamental laws of physics ensure security of quantum cryptographic protocols. In particular, they presented quantum key distribution protocol and claimed its security in a very general framework, which allows - what they call - postquantum eavesdropping strategies i.e. which "allows for eavesdroppers who can break the laws of quantum mechanics, as long as nothing they can do implies the possibility of superluminal signaling". In this Comment, however, we sh…
As shown in the famous \emph{EPR} paper (Einstein, Podolsky e Rosen,1935), Quantum Mechanics is non-local. The Bell theorem and the experiments by Aspect and many others, ruled out the possibility of explaining quantum correlations between entangled particles using local hidden variables models (except for implausible combinations of loopholes). Some authors (Bell, Eberhard, Bohm and Hiley) suggested that quantum correlations could be due to superluminal communications (tachyons) that propagate isotropically with velocity \emph{$v_{t}>c$} in a preferred reference frame. For finite values of \e…
We elaborate further on a hypothesis by Winterberg that turbulent fluctuations of the zero point field may lead to a breakdown of the superluminal quantum correlations over very large distances. A phenomenological model that was proposed by Winterberg to estimate the transition scale of the conjectured breakdown, does not lead to a distance that is large enough to be agreeable with recent experiments. We consider, but rule out, the possibility of a steeper slope in the energy spectrum of the turbulent fluctuations, due to compressibility, as a possible mechanism that may lead to an increased l…
We propose a thought experiment for classical superluminal signal transmission based on the quantum nonlocal influence of photons on their momentum entangled EPR twins. The signal sender measures either position or momentum of particles in a pure ensemble of the entangled pairs, leaving their twins as localized particles or plane waves. The signal receiver distinguishes these outcomes interferometrically using a double slit interferometer modified by a system of optical filters. Since the collapse of the wavefunction is postulated to be instantaneous, this signal can be transmitted superlumina…
Theories with no superluminal signaling have greater information-processing power than theories with no superluminal causation
Université Grenoble Alpes(格勒诺布尔阿尔卑斯大学);Inria(法国国家数字研究院);Institute for Theoretical Physics, ETH Zurich(苏黎世联邦理工学院理论物理研究所);Department of Mathematics, King’s College London(伦敦国王学院数学系);Department of Mathematics, University of York(约克大学数学系)
As we all know, when the relative velocity of two inertial reference frames $\sum$ and $\sum^{'}$ is less than the speed of light, the relations of $x_μ$ with $x_μ^{'}$, a particle mass $m$ with its velocity $\upsilon$, and a particle mass with its energy are all given by Einstein's special relativity. In this paper, we will give new relation of $x_μ$ and $x_μ^{'}$ when the relative velocity of $\sum$ and $\sum^{'}$ frame is larger than the speed of light, and also we give the relation of a particle mass $m$ with its velocity $\upsilon$, and a particle mass $m$ with its energy $E$ when the par…
Recently, various new proposals of superluminal transmission of information have appeared in the literature. Since they make systematic resort to recent formal and practical improvements in quantum mechanics, the old theorems proving the impossibility of such a performance must be adapted to the new scenario. In this paper we consider some of the most challenging proposals of this kind and we show why they cannot work.
We analyse in detail the reshaping mechanism leading to apparently "superluminal" advancement of a wave packet traversing a classically forbidden region. In the coordinate representation, a barrier is shown to act as an effective beamsplitter, recombining envelopes of the freely propagating pulse with various spacial shifts. Causality ensures that none of the constituent envelopes are advanced with respect to free propagation, yet the resulting pulse is advanced due to a peculiar interference effect, similar to the one responsible for "anomalous" values which occur in Aharonov's "weak measurem…
Recent technological developments have made it increasingly easy to access the non-perturbative regimes of cavity quantum electrodynamics known as ultra or deep strong coupling, where the light-matter coupling becomes comparable to the bare modal frequencies. In this work, we address the adequacy of the broadly used single-mode cavity approximation to describe such regimes. We demonstrate that, in the non-perturbative light-matter coupling regimes, the single-mode models become unphysical, allowing for superluminal signalling. Moreover, considering the specific example of the quantum Rabi mode…
We consider alternative models to quantum mechanics, that have been proposed in the recent years in order to explain the EPR correlations between two particles. These models allow in principle local hidden variables produced at the source, and some superluminal "hidden communication" (or "influences") to reproduce the non-local correlations. Moving to the case of three particles, we show that these alternative models lead to signaling when "hidden communication" alone is considered as the origin of the correlations.
Motivated by a number of recent experiments, we discuss in this paper a speculative but physically admissible form and solutions of effective Maxwell-like equations describing propagation of electromagnetic field in a medium which ``feels'' a quantum preferred frame.
We study the propagation and amplification of a microwave field in a four-level cascade quantum system which is realized in a superconducting phase quantum circuit. It is shown that by increasing the microwave pump tones feeding the system, the normal dispersion switches to the anomalous and the gain-assisted superluminal microwave propagation is obtained in this system. Moreover, it is demonstrated that the stimulated microwave field is generated via four-wave mixing without any inversion population in the energy levels of the system (amplification without inversion) and the group velocity of…
We explore some implications of the hypothesis that quantum mechanics (QM) is universal, i.e., that QM does not merely describe information accessible to observers, but that it also describes the observers themselves. From that point of view, "free will" (FW) - the ability of experimentalists to make free choices of initial conditions - is merely an illusion. As a consequence, by entangling a part of brain (responsible for the illusion of FW) with a distant particle, one may create nonlocal correlations that can be interpreted as superluminal signals. In addition, if FW is an illusion, then QM…
Hereby we inspect two-partite entanglement using thought experiment that relates properties of incoherently mixed states to the impossibility of faster-than-light (FTL) signalling. We show that if there appears a way to distinguish ensembles of particles that are described by the same density matrix, but are generated using different pure states - properties of entanglement (namely, non-classical correlations) could be employed to create an FTL signalling device. We do not claim FTL signalling is possible, rather, we establish the logical connection between the aforementioned properties of cur…
Relativistic Quantum Field Theory Approach to Wavepacket Tunneling: Lack of Superluminal Transmission
Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Modélisation, CNRS Unité 8089, CY Cergy Paris Université(CY塞吉-巴黎大学);Research Unit Lasers and Spectroscopies (UR-LLS), naXys & NISM, University of Namur(纳穆尔大学);Departmento de Química-Física, Universidad del País Vasco, UPV/EHU(巴斯克联邦大学);EHU Quantum Center, Universidad del País Vasco, UPV/EHU(巴斯克联邦大学);Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidad del País Vasco, UPV/EHU(巴斯克联邦大学);IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science(伊克尔巴斯克)
Unstable systems such as media with inverted atomic population have been shown to allow the propagation of analytic wavepackets with group velocity faster than that of light, without violating causality. We illuminate the important role played by unstable modes in this propagation, and show that the quantum fluctuations of these modes, and their unitary time evolution, impose severe restrictions on the observation of superluminal phenomena.
We study the phenomenon of one-dimensional non-resonant tunnelling through two successive potential barriers, separated by an intermediate free region R, by analyzing the relevant solutions to the Schroedinger equation. We find that the total traversal time is INDEPENDENT not only of the barrier widths (the so-called "Hartman effect"), but also of the R-width: so that the effective velocity in the region R, between the two barriers, can be regarded as infinite. This agrees with the results known from the corresponding waveguide experiments, which simulated the tunnelling experiment herein cons…
Given the collapse hypothesis (CH) of quantum measurement, EPR-type correlations along with the hypothesis of the impossibility of superluminal communication (ISC) have the effect of globalizing gross features of the quantum formalism making them universally true. In particular, these hypotheses imply that state transformations of density matrices must be linear and that evolution which preserves purity of states must also be linear. A gedanken experiment shows that lorentz covariance along with the second law of thermodynamics imply a non-entropic version of ISC. Partial results using quantum…