Mermin states that his nontechnical version of Bell's theorem stands and is not invalidated by time and setting dependent instrument parameters as claimed in one of our previous papers. We identify deviations from well-established protocol in probability theory as well as mathematical contradictions in Mermin's argument and show that Mermin's conclusions are therefore not valid: his proof does not go forward if certain possible time dependencies are taken into account.
We investigate a classical statistical model and show that Mermin's version of a Bell inequality is violated. We get this violation, if the measurement modifies the ensemble, a feature, which is also characteristic for measurement processes for quantum systems.
We show that Mermin's reasoning against our refutation of his non-technical proof for Bell-type inequalities is of limited significance or contains mathematical inconsistencies that, when taken into account, do not permit his proof to go forward. Our refutation therefore stands.
Mermin states in a recent paper that his nontechnical version of Bell's theorem stands and is not invalidated by time and setting dependent instrument parameters as claimed in one of our previous papers. We identify a number of misinterpretations (of our definitions) and mathematical inconsistencies in Mermin's paper and show that Mermin's conclusions are therefore not valid: his proof does not go forward if certain possible time dependencies are taken into account.
The relationship between the noncommutativity of operators and the violation of the Bell inequality is exhibited in the light of the n-particle Bell-type inequality discovered by Mermin [PRL 65, 1838 (1990)]. It is shown, in particular, that the maximal amount of violation of Mermin's inequality predicted by quantum mechanics decreases exponentially by a factor of 2^{-m/2} whenever any m among the n single-particle commutators happen to vanish.
We consider a two-particle/two-setting Bell experiment to visualize the conflict between Bell-Żukowski inequality and Bell-Mermin inequality. The experiment is reproducible by local realistic theories which are not rotationally invariant. We found that the average value of the Bell-Żukowski operator can be evaluated only by the two-particle/two-setting Bell experiment in question. The Bell-Żukowski inequality reveals that the constructed local realistic models for the experiment are not rotationally invariant. That is, the two-particle Bell experiment in question reveals the conflict between B…
The detection of nonlocal correlations in a Bell experiment implies almost by definition some intrinsic randomness in the measurement outcomes. For given correlations, or for a given Bell violation, the amount of randomness predicted by quantum physics, quantified by the guessing probability, can generally be bounded numerically. However, currently only a few exact analytic solutions are known for violations of the bipartite Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt Bell inequality. Here, we study the randomness in a Bell experiment where three parties test the tripartite Mermin-Bell inequality. We give tigh…
It is shown how a proof of the Bell-Kochen-Specker (BKS) theorem given by Kernaghan and Peres can be experimentally realized using a scheme of measurements derived from a related proof of the same theorem by Mermin. It is also pointed out that if this BKS experiment is carried out independently by two distant observers who repeatedly make measurements on a specially correlated state of six qubits, it provides an inequality-free demonstration of Bell's theorem as well.
It is well known that Bell inequality supporting the local realism can be violated in quantum mechanics. Numerous tests of such a violation have been demonstrated with bipartite entanglements. Using spectral jointmeasurements of the qubits, we here propose a scheme to test the tripartite Mermin inequality (a three-qubit Bell-type inequality) with three qubits dispersively-coupled to a driven cavity. First, we show how to generate a three-qubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) state by only one-step quantum operation. Then, spectral joint-measurements are introduced to directly confirm such a …
In this paper, it is proved that the maximal violation of Mermin's inequalities of $n$ qubits occurs only for GHZ's states and the states obtained from them by local unitary transformations. The key point of our argument involved here is by using the certain algebraic properties that Pauli's matrices satisfy, which is based on the determination of local spin observables of the associated Bell-Mermin operators.
Generalized Mermin Inequalities for Benchmarking Large-Scale GHZ States
Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and School of Physical Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学物理科学学院和微观尺度物理国家研究中心）；Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Science and CAS Center for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学上海量子科学研究中心和中科院量子信息与量子物理学前沿卓越中心）；Hefei National Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学合肥国家实验室）；Center on Frontiers of Computing Studies, Peking University（北京大学前沿计算研究中心）；School of Computer Science, Peking University（北京大学计算机学院）；Naturwissenschaftlich-Technische Fakultät, Universität Siegen（锡根大学自然科学技术学院）
Any n-qubit state with n independent perfect correlations is equivalent to a graph state. We present the optimal Bell inequalities for perfect correlations and maximal violation for all classes of graph states with n < 7 qubits. Twelve of them were previously unknown and four give the same violation as the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state, although the corresponding states are more resistant to decoherence.
We prove that the threshold detection efficiency for a loophole-free Bell experiment using an $n$-qubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state and the correlations appearing in the $n$-partite Mermin inequality is $n/(2n-2)$. If the detection efficiency is equal to or lower than this value, there are local hidden variable models that can simulate all the quantum predictions. If the detection efficiency is above this value, there is no local hidden variable model that can simulate all the quantum predictions.
We introduce a two-observer all-versus-nothing proof of Bell's theorem which reduces the number of required quantum predictions from 9 [A. Cabello, Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 010403 (2001); Z.-B. Chen et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 160408 (2003)] to 4, provides a greater amount of evidence against local realism, reduces the detection efficiency requirements for a conclusive experimental test of Bell's theorem, and leads to a Bell's inequality which resembles Mermin's inequality for three observers [N. D. Mermin, Phys. Rev. Lett. 65, 1838 (1990)] but requires only two observers.
We derive Bell inequalities for graph states by generalizing the approach proposed by Ardehali [Phys. Rev. A 46, 5375 (1992)] for Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states. Using this method, we demonstrate that Bell inequalities with nonstabilizer observables are often superior to the optimal GHZ-Mermin-type (or stabilizer-type) Bell inequalities.
We study the explicit relation between violation of Bell inequalities and bipartite distillability of multi-qubit states. It has been shown that even though for $N\ge 8$ there exist $N$-qubit bound entangled states which violates a Bell inequality [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 87}, 230402 (2001)], for all the states violating the inequality there exists at least one splitting of the parties into two groups such that pure-state entanglement can be distilled [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 88}, 027901 (2002)]. We here prove that for all $N$-qubit states violating the inequality the number of distillable biparti…
Local systems may appear to violate Bell's inequalities if they are observed through suitable filters. The nonlocality leading to violation is outside the system and comprises the observer comparing the outcomes of the typical two wing Bell experiment. An example based on a well known gedanken experiment by Mermin is presented, and implications for the interpretation of Bell tests are discussed.
The Mermin-Klyshko inequality for n spin-1/2 particles and two dichotomic observables is generalized to n spin-s particles and two maximal observables. It is shown that some multiparty multilevel Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states [A. Cabello, Phys. Rev. A 63, 022104 (2001)] maximally violate this inequality for any s. For a fixed n, the magnitude of the violation is constant for any s, which provides a simple demonstration and generalizes the conclusion reached by Gisin and Peres for two spin-s particles in the singlet state [Phys. Lett. A 162, 15 (1992)]. For a fixed s, the violation grows e…
Randomness is a potential resource for cryptography, simulations and algorithms. Non-local correlations violating Bell's inequality certify the generation of bit strings whose randomness is guaranteed in a device-independent manner. We provide interesting semi-device independent randomness certification protocols by Kochen-Specker (KS) contextuality. For this, we first cast the Mermin's magic-square proof of KS contextuality for two-qubit system as a semi-device independent communication game in prepare-measure scenario. This provides a semi-device independent certification of two-bit of rando…
Several fatal defects in recent defenses of Bell's theorem are identified. It is shown again that ``proofs'' of the existence of non-locality are not valid because they inadvertently exclude all correlation. A fully classical simulation of EPR correlations, based on using Malus' Law for both photocurrent generation and for the ``coincidence circuitry,'' is described.
It is shown that the entanglement-structure of 3- and 4-qubit states can be characterized by optimized operators of the Mermin-Klyshko type. It is possible to discriminate between pure 2-qubit entanglements and higher entanglements. A comparison with a global entanglement measure and the i-concurrence is made.
Based on Clauser-Horner-Shimony-Holt inequality, we show a fruitful method to exploit Bell inequalities for multipartite qubit systems. These Bell inequalities are designed with a simpler architecture tailored to experimental demonstration. Under the optimal setting we derive a set of compact Mermin-type inequalities and discuss quantum violations for generalized Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GGHZ) states. Also, we reveal relationship between quantum nonlocality and four-partite entanglement for four-qubit GGHZ states.
A recent Letter by Hess and Philipp claims that Bell's theorem neglects the possibility of time-like dependence in local hidden variables, hence is not conclusive. Moreover the authors claim that they have constructed, in an earlier paper, a local realistic model of the EPR correlations. However, they themselves have neglected the experimenter's freedom to choose settings, while on the other hand, Bell's theorem can be formulated to cope with time-like dependence. This in itself proves that their toy model cannot satisfy local realism, but we also indicate where their proof of its local realis…
Any pure entangled state of two particles violates a Bell inequality for two-particle correlation functions (Gisin's theorem). We show that there exist pure entangled N>2 qubit states that do not violate any Bell inequality for N particle correlation functions for experiments involving two dichotomic observables per local measuring station. We also find that Mermin-Ardehali-Belinskii-Klyshko inequalities may not always be optimal for refutation of local realistic description.
The spectral decomposition is given for the N-qubit Bell operators with two observables per qubit. It is found that the eigenstates (when non-degenerate) are N-qubit GHZ states even for those operators that do not allow the maximal violation of the corresponding inequality. We present two applications of this analysis. In particular, we discuss the existence of pure entangled states that do not violate any Mermin-Klyshko inequality for $N\geq 3$.
Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states are intuitively known to be the most non-classical ones. They lead to the most radically nonclassical behavior of three or more entangled quantum subsystems. However, in case of two-dimensional systems, it has been shown that GHZ states lead to more robustness of Bell nonclassicality in case of geometrical inequalities than in case of Mermin inequalities. We investigate various strategies of constructing geometrical Bell inequalities (BIs) for GHZ states for any dimensionality of subsystems.
We propose a formalism to derive the maximal bound of generalized Bell type inequalities and shows that the formalism can be applied to various form of Bell functions. The generic Bell function is defined to generate the combinations of all the possible correlations whose local realistic bound can be obtained from the series of the constraint equations. The application of the constraints converts the optimization problem into the counting problems whose complexity is dramatically reduced. It is also shown that generic Bell function can be used to generate many other known Bell type functions s…
A proof of Bell's theorem without inequalities and involving only two observers is given by suitably extending a proof of the Bell-Kochen-Specker theorem due to Mermin. This proof is generalized to obtain an inequality-free proof of Bell's theorem for a set of n Bell states (with n odd) shared between two distant observers. A generalized CHSH inequality is formulated for n Bell states shared symmetrically between two observers and it is shown that quantum mechanics violates this inequality by an amount that grows exponentially with increasing n.
We study the effects of Lorentz transformations on three-particle non-local system states (GHZ and W) of spin 1/2 particles, using the Pauli spin operator and a three-particle generalization of Bell's inequality, introduced by Svetlichny. In our setup, the moving and laboratory frames used the (same) set of measurement directions that maximally violate Svetlichny's inequality in the laboratory frame. We also investigate the behavior of Mermin's and Collins' inequalities. We find that, regardless of the particles' type of entanglement, violation of Svetlichny's inequality in the moving frame is…
We study violations of n particle Bell inequalities (as developed by Mermin and Klyshko) under the assumption that suitable partial transposes of the density operator are positive. If all transposes with respect to a partition of the system into p subsystems are positive, the best upper bound on the violation is 2^((n-p)/2). In particular, if the partial transposes with respect to all subsystems are positive, the inequalities are satisfied. This is supporting evidence for a recent conjecture by Peres that positivity of partial transposes could be equivalent to existence of local classical mode…
We provide a novel criterion for identifying quantum correlation, which allows us to find connections between Bell type inequalities, entanglement detection, and correlation. We utilize the criterion to construct witness operators that can detect genuine multi-qubit entanglement with fewer local measurements. The connection between identifications of quantum correlation and Mermin's inequality is discussed. Detection of genuine four-level tripartite entanglement with two local measurement settings is shown in the same manner. Further, through the criterion of quantum correlation, we derive a n…
It was shown in Phys. Rev. Lett., 87, 230402 (2001) that N (N >= 4) qubits described by a certain one parameter family F of bound entangled states violate Mermin-Klyshko inequality for N >= 8. In this paper we prove that the states from the family F violate Bell inequalities derived in Phys. Rev. A, 56, R1682 (1997), in which each observer measures three non-commuting sets of orthogonal projectors, for N >=7. We also derive a simple one parameter family of entanglement witnesses that detect entanglement for all the states belonging to F. It is possible that these new entanglement witnesses cou…
In the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger-Mermin (GHZM) proof of Bell's theorem, a source periodically emits an entangled state of three particles whose properties are analyzed by three distant observers and used to prove Bell's nonlocality theorem. This paper analyzes a somewhat different gedanken experiment involving only two observers that nevertheless makes indirect use of the GHZ states to prove Bell's theorem. The relationship of the GHZM proof to the present one is discussed, and it is pointed out that the latter provides an interesting new view of the connection between the "two theorems of J…
Non-locality of the type first elucidated by Bell in 1964 is a difficult concept to explain to non-specialists and undergraduates. Here we attempt this by showing how such non-locality can be used to solve a problem in which someone might find themselves as the result of a collection of normal, even if somewhat unlikely, events. Our story is told in the style of a Sherlock Holmes mystery, and is based on Mermin's formulation of the "paradoxical" illustration of quantum non-locality discovered by Greenberger, Horne and Zeilinger.
Bell's theorem contains the proposition that the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) theory (hypothesis) of the existence of elements of reality together with Einstein locality permits a mathematical description of EPR experiments by functions that are all defined on one common probability space. This proposition leads in turn to restrictions for possible experimental outcomes that Bell expressed in terms of his well known inequalities and that Vorob'ev and others had investigated before Bell. Summarizing several previous publications and adding new material, the above proposition is refuted by Eins…
In 1981, David Mermin described a cleverly simplified version of Bell's theorem. It pointed out in a straightforward way that interpreting entanglement from a local realist point of view can be problematic. I propose here an extended version of Mermin's device that can actually be given a simple local realist interpretation through a sample selection bias, and I argue that we still have no scientific reason to believe that the moon could possibly not be there when nobody looks.
Statistical tests are needed to determine experimentally whether a hypothetical theory based on local realism can be an acceptable alternative to quantum mechanics. It is impossible to rule out local realism by a single test, as often claimed erroneously. The ``strength'' of a particular Bell inequality is measured by the number of trials that are needed to invalidate local realism at a given confidence level. Various versions of Bell's inequality are compared from this point of view. It is shown that Mermin's inequality for Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states requires fewer tests than the Clau…
We present a family of Bell inequalities for three parties and arbitrarily many outcomes, which can be seen as a natural generalization of the Mermin Bell inequality. For a small number of outcomes, we verify that our inequalities define facets of the polytope of local correlations. We investigate the quantum violations of these inequalities, in particular with respect to the Hilbert space dimension. We provide strong evidence that the maximal quantum violation can only be reached using systems with local Hilbert space dimension exceeding the number of measurement outcomes. This suggests that …
Certifying optimal device-independent quantum randomness in quantum networks
Hangzhou Dianzi University（杭州电子科技大学）；Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Sensitive Data Security and Confidentiality Governance（浙江省敏感数据安全与保密治理重点实验室）；The University of Hong Kong（香港大学）
We report on the experimental violation of multipartite Bell inequalities by entangled states of trapped ions. First we consider resource states for measurement-based quantum computation of between 3 and 7 ions and show that all strongly violate a Bell-type inequality for graph states, where the criterion for violation is a sufficiently high fidelity. Second we analyze GHZ states of up to 14 ions generated in a previous experiment using stronger Mermin-Klyshko inequalities, and show that in this case the violation of local realism increases exponentially with system size. These experiments rep…
Bell's inequality has been traditionally used to explore the relationship between hidden variables and the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics. In this paper, another use is found. Bell's inequality is used to derive a coupling principle for elementary particles and to give a deeper understanding of baryonic structure. We also give a derivation of the Pauli exclusion principle from the coupling principle. Pacs: 14.20-c, 12.90+b, 3.65.Bz, 12.40.Ee
Joint quantum measurements of non-commuting observables are possible, if one accepts an increase in the measured variances. A necessary condition for a joint measurement to be possible is that a joint probability distribution exists for the measurement. This fact suggests that there may be a link with Bell inequalities, as these will be satisfied if and only if a joint probability distribution for all involved observables exists. We investigate the connections between Bell inequalities and conditions for joint quantum measurements to be possible. Mermin's inequality for the three-particle Gree…
For two qubits in a pure state there exists a one-to-one relation between the entanglement measure (the concurrence ${\cal C}$) and the maximal violation ${\cal M}$ of a Bell inequality. No such relation exists for the three-qubit analogue of ${\cal C}$ (the tangle $τ$), but we have found that numerical data is consistent with a simple set of upper and lower bounds for $τ$ given ${\cal M}$. The bounds on $τ$ become tighter with increasing ${\cal M}$, so they are of practical use. The Svetlichny form of the Bell inequality gives tighter bounds than the Mermin form. We show that the bounds can b…
Greenberger, Horne, Shimony and Zeilinger gave a new version of the Bell theorem without using inequalities (probabilities). Mermin summarized it concisely; but Bohm and Hiley criticized Mermin's proof from contextualists' point of view. Using the Branching Space-time language, in this paper a proof will be given that is free of these difficulties. At the same time we will also clarify the limits of the validity of the theorem when it is taken as a proof that quantum mechanics is not compatible with a deterministic world nor with a world that permits correlated space-related events without a c…
Bell's inequalities in the form given by Wigner are derived from the so-called fundamental assumption of statistical mechanics. I then demonstrate the possible relationship between these inequalities and the second law, particularly if assuming the Pauli exclusion principle dictates the expected outcomes.
We consider Bell experiments with N spatially separated qubits where loss is present and restrict to two measurement settings per site. We note the Mermin-Ardehali-Belinskii-Klyshko (MABK) Bell inequalities do not present a tight bound for the predictions of local hidden variable (LHV) theories. The Holder-type Bell inequality derived by Cavalcanti, Foster, Reid and Drummond provides a tighter bound, for high losses. We analyse the actual tight bound for the MABK inequalities, given the measure W=\prod_{k=1}^{N}η_{k} of overall detection efficiency, where η_{k} is the efficiency at the site k …
Facet inequalities play an important role in detecting the nonlocality of a quantum state. The number of such inequalities depends on the Bell test scenario. With the increase in the number of parties, measurement outcomes, or/and the number of measurement settings, there are more nontrivial facet inequalities. For several Bell scenarios, by involving two dichotomic measurement settings for two parties and one dichotomic measurement by other parties, we show that the local polytope has only one nontrivial facet. For three parties, we have three variants of this inequality, depending upon which…
We study GHZ-type and W-type three-mode entangled coherent states. Both the types of entangled coherent states violate Mermin's version of the Bell inequality with threshold photon detection (i.e., without photon counting). Such an experiment can be performed using linear optics elements and threshold detectors with significant Bell violations for GHZ-type entangled coherent states. However, to demonstrate Bell-type inequality violations for W-type entangled coherent states, additional nonlinear interactions are needed. We also propose an optical scheme to generate W-type entangled coherent st…
Mermin square scenario provides a simple proof for state-independent contextuality. In this paper, we study polytopes $\text{MP}_β$ obtained from the Mermin scenario, parametrized by a function $β$ on the set of contexts. Up to combinatorial isomorphism, there are two types of polytopes $\text{MP}_0$ and $\text{MP}_1$ depending on the parity of $β$. Our main result is the classification of the vertices of these two polytopes. In addition, we describe the graph associated with the polytopes. All the vertices of $\text{MP}_0$ turn out to be deterministic. This result provides a new topological p…
Multipartite nonlocality is of great fundamental interest and constitutes a useful resource for many quantum information protocols. However, demonstrating it in practice, by violating a Bell inequality, can be difficult. In particular, standard experimental setups require the alignment of distant parties' reference frames, which can be challenging or impossible in practice. In this work we study the violation of certain Bell inequalities, namely the Mermin, Mermin-Klyshko and Svetlichny inequalities, without shared reference frames, when parties share a Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) state.…
It is well-known that no local model - in theory - can simulate the outcome statistics of a Bell-type experiment as long as the detection efficiency is higher than a threshold value. For the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) Bell inequality this theoretical threshold value is $η_{\text{T}} = 2 (\sqrt{2}-1) \approx 0.8284$. On the other hand, Phys.\ Rev.\ Lett.\ 107, 170404 (2011) outlined an explicit practical model that can fake the CHSH inequality for a detection efficiency of up to $0.5$. In this work, we close this gap. More specifically, we propose a method to emulate a Bell inequality at…
