It is well known that entangled quantum states can be nonlocal: the correlations between local measurements carried out on these states cannot always be reproduced by local hidden variable models. Svetlichny, followed by others, showed that multipartite quantum states are even more nonlocal than bipartite ones in the sense that nonlocal classical models with (super-luminal) communication between some of the parties cannot reproduce the quantum correlations. Here we study in detail the kinds of nonlocality present in quantum states. More precisely we enquire what kinds of classical communication patterns cannot reproduce quantum correlations. By studying the extremal points of the space of all multiparty probability distributions, in which all parties can make one of a pair of measurements each with two possible outcomes, we find a necessary condition for classical nonlocal models to reproduce the statistics of all quantum states. This condition extends and generalises work of Svetlichny and others in which it was shown that a particular class of classical nonlocal models, the ``separable'' models, cannot reproduce the statistics of all multiparticle quantum states. Our condition shows that the nonlocality present in some entangled multiparticle quantum states is much stronger than previously thought. We also study the sufficiency of our condition.
We study the role of entanglement and non-locality in quantum protocols that make use of systems of identical particles. Unlike in the case of distinguishable particles, the notions of entanglement and non-locality for systems whose constituents cannot be distinguished and singly addressed are still debated. We clarify why the only approach that avoids incongruities and paradoxes is the one based on the second quantization formalism whereby it is the entanglement of the modes that can be populated by the particles what really matters and not the particles themselves. Indeed, by means of a metr…
Quantum non-locality is normally defined via violations of Bell's inequalities that exclude certain classical hidden variable theories from explaining quantum correlations. Another definition of non-locality refers to the wave-function collapse thereby one can prepare a quantum state from arbitrary far away. In both cases one can debate on whether non-locality is a real physical phenomenon, e.g. one can employ formulations of quantum mechanics that does not use collapse, or one can simply refrain from explaining quantum correlations via classical hidden variables. Here we point out that there …
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.
This work provides a comprehensive approach to analyze the entanglement between subsystems generated by identical particles, based on the symmetric/exterior algebra (SEA) and microcausality. Our method amends the no-labeling approach (NLA) to quantify any type of identical particles' entanglement, especially fermions with the parity superselection rule. We can analyze the non-local properties of identical particles' states in a fundamentally equivalent way to those for non-identical particles, which is achieved by the factorizability of the total Hilbert space of identical particles. This form…
Quantum correlations are critical to our understanding of nature, with far-reaching technological and fundamental impact. These often manifest as violations of Bell's inequalities, bounds derived from the assumptions of locality and realism, concepts integral to classical physics. Many tests of Bell's inequalities have studied pairs of correlated particles; however, the immense interest in multi-particle quantum correlations is driving the experimental frontier to test systems beyond just pairs. All experimental violations of Bell's inequalities to date require supplementary assumptions, openi…
We use a simple relational framework to develop the key notions and results on hidden variables and non-locality. The extensive literature on these topics in the foundations of quantum mechanics is couched in terms of probabilistic models, and properties such as locality and no-signalling are formulated probabilistically. We show that to a remarkable extent, the main structure of the theory, through the major No-Go theorems and beyond, survives intact under the replacement of probability distributions by mere relations.
We show that the extensions of quantum correlations stemming from a "strict" interpretation of the criterion of reality of Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen raise the inadequacy of their ideal experiment for the assignment of simultaneous elements of reality to two incompatible properties. Then, we suggest a different physical situation enabling the simultaneous assignment of objective values of two incompatible observables of a spin particle by means of measurements of two compatible properties of a second correlated spin particle.
The quantum theoretical concepts of modular momentum and dynamical non-locality, which were introduced four decades ago, have recently been used to explain single particle quantum interference phenomena. Although the non-local exchange of modular momentum associated with such phenomena cannot be directly observed, it has been suggested that effects induced by this exchange can be measured experimentally using weak measurements of pre- and post-selected ensembles of particles. This paper reports on such an optical experiment that yielded measured weak values that were consistent with the theore…
Wave-particle duality, superposition and entanglement are among the most counterintuitive features of quantum theory. Their clash with our classical expectations motivated hidden-variable (HV) theories. With the emergence of quantum technologies we can test experimentally the predictions of quantum theory {\em versus} HV theories and put strong restrictions on their key assumptions. Here we study an entanglement-assisted version of the quantum delayed-choice experiment and show that the extension of HV to the controlling devices only exacerbates the contradiction. We compare HV theories that s…
We review the computation of correlations of successive projections of the spin onto axes for spin-1/2 particles and EPRB pairs (in the Singlet state). We assume forms of Realism (at least as general as the Predictive Hidden Variables in the classical Bell's Theory), to review one particle correlations before we further assume Locality and analyze EPRB pairs. To our surprise, we find that the Abstract Bell Inequalities with three or four axes cannot have physical meaning i.e., two spin projections cannot belong to one particle or some correlations that one would need cannot be evaluated. A rec…
The dynamics of a particle in an expanding cavity is investigated in the Klein-Gordon framework in a regime in which the single particle picture remains valid. The cavity expansion represents a time-dependent boundary condition for the relativistic wavefunction. We show that this expansion induces a non-local effect on the current density throughout the cavity. Our results indicate that a relativistic treatment still contains apparently spurious effects traditionally associated with the unbounded velocities inherent to non-relativistic solutions obtained from the Schroedinger equation. Possibl…
It is said about quantum interference that "In reality, it contains the only mystery". Indeed, together with non-locality it is often considered as the characteristic feature of quantum theory which can not be explained in any classical way. In this work we are concerned with a restricted setting of a single particle propagating in multi-path interferometric circuits, that is physical realisation of a qudit. It is shown that this framework, including collapse of the wave function, can be simulated with classical resources without violating the locality principle. We present a local ontological…
Entanglement is one of the strongest quantum correlation, and is a key ingredient in fundamental aspects of quantum mechanics and a resource for quantum technologies. While entanglement theory is well settled for distinguishable particles, there are five inequivalent approaches to entanglement of indistinguishable particles. We analyse the different definitions of indistinguishable particle entanglement in the light of the locality notion. This notion is specified by two steps: i) the identification of subsystems by means of their local operators; ii) the requirement that entanglement represen…
Experiments motivated by predictions of quantum mechanics indicate non-trivial correlations between spacelike-separated measurements. The phenomenon is referred to as a violation of strong-locality and, after Einstein, called ghostly action at a distance. An intriguing and previously unasked question is how the evolution of an assembly of particles to equilibrium-state relates to strong-locality. More specifically, whether, with this respect, indistinguishable particles differ from distinguishable ones. To address the question, we introduce a Markov-chain based framework over a finite set of m…
In a standard interferometry experiment, one measures the phase difference between two paths by recombining the two wave packets on a beam-splitter. However, it has been recently recognized that the phase can also be estimated via local measurements, by using an ancillary particle in a known superposition state. In this work, we further analyse these protocols for different types of particles (bosons or fermions, charged or uncharged), with a particular emphasis on the subtleties that arise when the phase is due to the coupling to an abelian gauge field. In that case, we show that the measurab…
The paper explains why an ontology of permanent point particles that are individuated by their relative positions and that move on continuous trajectories as given by a deterministic law of motion constitutes the best solution to the measurement problem in both quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. This case is made by comparing the Bohmian theory to collapse theories such as the GRW matter density and the GRW flash theory. It is argued that the Bohmian theory makes the minimal changes, concerning only the dynamics and neither the ontology nor the account of probabilities, that are neces…
Bohmian mechanics reproduces all statistical predictions of quantum mechanics, which ensures that entanglement cannot be used for superluminal signaling. However, individual Bohmian particles can experience superluminal influences. We propose to illustrate this point using a double double-slit setup with path-entangled photons. The Bohmian velocity field for one of the photons can be measured using a recently demonstrated weak-measurement technique. The found velocities strongly depend on the value of a phase shift that is applied to the other photon, potentially at spacelike separation.
We show that probability is locally conserved in discrete time quantum walks, corresponding to a particle evolving in discrete space and time. In particular, for a spatial structure represented by an arbitrary directed graph, and any unitary evolution of a particle which respects that locality structure, we can define probability currents which also respect the locality structure and which yield the correct final probability distribution.
We examine the locality assumption of Bell's theorem in three steps of EPRB experiment. Depending on the context, locality is embodied in the conditions of separability, local causality, factorizability, relativistic causality, and non-contextuality. We show that separability, characterized by the constraint of zero covariance, is equivalent to local causality which leads to factorizability through the measurement process. Factorizability is the conjunction of parameter independence and outcome independence. It is commonly believed that relativistic causality is equivalent to parameter indepen…
The action reaction principle is violated in the standard formulation of Quantum Mechanics, so that its phase space is incomplete. Moreover, projection of state of a quantum system under indirect measurement, when there are alternative virtual paths and one of them is discarded by negative detection implies, according to the action reaction principle, a reaction on the detector, although its macroscopic state does not change. If all interactions are local, mediated by fields with relativistically causal evolution, some system, different from the particle which follows another path, must locall…
The author's attempt to construct a local causal model of quantum theory (QT) that includes quantum field theory (QFT) resulted in the identification of "quantum objects" as the elementary units of causality and locality. Quantum objects are collections of particles (including single particles) whose collective dynamics and measurement results can only be described by the laws of QT and QFT. Local causal models of quantum objects' internal dynamics are not possible if a locality is understood as a space-point locality. Within quantum objects, state transitions may occur which instantly affect …
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…
A generalization of the standard model of Dirac particle in external electromagnetic field is proposed. In the generalization we take into account interactions of this particle with environment, which is described by the memory function. This function takes into account that the behavior of the particle at proper time can depend not only at the present time, but also on the history of changes on finite time interval. In this case the Dirac particle can be considered an open quantum system with non-Markovian dynamics. The violation of the semigroup property of dynamic maps is a characteristic p…
Integrating out virtual quantum fluctuations in an originally local quantum field theory results in an effective theory which is non-local. In this Letter we argue that tunneling of the 3rd kind - where particles traverse a barrier by splitting into a pair of virtual particles which recombine only after a finite distance - provides a direct test of this non-locality. We sketch a quantum-optical setup to test this effect, and investigate observable effects in a simple toy model.
Probing Single-Particle Spatial Extent With Helical Neutron Wavefronts
University at Buffalo, State University of New York（纽约州立大学布法罗分校）；Institute for Quantum Computing, University of Waterloo（滑铁卢大学量子计算研究所）；Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo（滑铁卢大学物理与天文学系）；Joint Quantum Institute, National Institute of Standards and Technology and University of Maryland（美国国家标准与技术研究院与马里兰大学联合量子研究所）；Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo（滑铁卢大学化学系）；Department of Physics, University of Waterloo（滑铁卢大学物理系）；National Institute of Standards and Technology（美国国家标准与技术研究院）；ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory（鲁瑟福阿普尔顿实验室 ISIS 中子与缪子源）
We undertake a detailed analysis of the non-local properties of the fundamental problem of two trapped, distinguishable neutral atoms which interact with a short range potential characterised by an s-wave scattering length. We show that this interaction generates continuous variable (CV) entanglement between the external degrees of freedom of the atoms and consider its behaviour as a function of both, the distance between the traps and the magnitude of the inter-particle scattering length. We first quantify the entanglement in the ground state of the system at zero temperature and then, adopti…
A local description of quantum subsystems can be used to construct ontologies of the full quantum predictions. This paper communicates one possible way to do so. A retrocausal interpretation of quantum mechanics where the de Broglie-Bohm particles are the retrocausal agents is developed. This interpretation is constrained to be compatible with the existence of a local realist description of quantum subsystems.
Majorana fermions (MFs) are exotic particles that are their own anti-particles. Recently, the search for the MFs occurring as quasi-particle excitations in solid-state systems has attracted widespread interest, because of their fundamental importance in fundamental physics and potential applications in topological quantum computation based on solid-state devices. Here we study the quantum correlations between two spatially separate quantum dots induced by a pair of MFs emerging at the two ends of a semiconductor nanowire, in order to develop a new method for probing the MFs. We find that witho…
The problem of quantum state reduction in the process of measurement has attracted attention of almost everyone who created, developed or explained quantum physics to the students. Absence of a solution is the basis for the statement that the physical laws alone are not enough to describe the reduction of state of the measured particle. In the presented study, it is taken into account that the measurement of all properties of quantum particles can not be carried out in one physical process (the no-cloning theorem). For such a measurement several series of incompatible observations are needed, …
Local realism has been knocked down by the experiments with entangled pairs of particles based on Bell's theorem(J. S. Bell, Physics (Long Island City, N.Y.) 1, 195 (1964)). However, there has been continuing debate on whether locality or realism is the problem. In this work, we analyzed the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen thought experiment of Bohm's version using information theory and thermodynamics. The inference of non-locality from EPR experiments will be against the principle of non-realism of quantum mechanics. Therefore, the experiments about quantum entanglement cannot provide any proof to a…
