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arXiv:0912.4846 · Physical Review A

Compatibility and noncontextuality for sequential measurements

Otfried Gühne, Matthias Kleinmann, Adán Cabello, Jan-Åke Larsson, Gerhard Kirchmair, F. Zähringer, R. Gerritsma, Christian F. Roos

Published Feb 25, 2010• 98 citations
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Abstract

A basic assumption behind the inequalities used for testing noncontextual hidden variable models is that the observables measured on the same individual system are perfectly compatible. However, compatibility is not perfect in actual experiments using sequential measurements. We discuss the resulting ``compatibility loophole'' and present several methods to rule out certain hidden variable models that obey a kind of extended noncontextuality. Finally, we present a detailed analysis of experimental imperfections in a recent trapped-ion experiment and apply our analysis to that case.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.81.022121

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A basic assumption behind the inequalities used for testing noncontextual hidden variable models is that the observables measured on the same individual system are perfectly compatible. However, compatibility is not perfect in actual experiments using sequential measurements. We discuss the resulting ``compatibility loophole'' and present several methods to rule out certain hidden variable models that obey a kind of extended noncontextuality. Finally, we present a detailed analysis of experimental imperfections in a recent trapped-ion experiment and apply our analysis to that case.
The testability of the Kochen-Specker theorem is a subject of ongoing controversy. A central issue is that experimental implementations relying on sequential measurements cannot achieve perfect compatibility between the measurements and that therefore the notion of noncontextuality does not apply. We demonstrate by an explicit model that such compatibility violations may yield a violation of noncontextuality inequalities, even if we assume that the incompatibilities merely originate from context-independent noise. We show, however, that this problem can be circumvented by combining the ideas behind Leggett-Garg inequalities with those of the Kochen-Specker theorem.
The question of whether noncontextual hidden variable models can give the quantum‐mechanical predictions has been under discussion for a long time. The question originates in the sixties, perhaps best known from the 1967 paper by Kochen and Specker where it was shown that no noncontextual hidden‐variable model can give these predictions. Recently, the question has gained interest from experimentalists trying to test this in the laboratory. The experimental setups in question have used a sequential setup rather than the alternative, joint (simultaneous) measurement. There has been discussion in the community whether this is appropriate. This brief paper argues that sequential measurement is not only the correct choice, but the best possible.
The question of whether noncontextual hidden variable models can give the quantum‐mechanical predictions has been under discussion for a long time. The question originates in the sixties, perhaps best known from the 1967 paper by Kochen and Specker where it was shown that no noncontextual hidden‐variable model can give these predictions. Recently, the question has gained interest from experimentalists trying to test this in the laboratory. The experimental setups in question have used a sequential setup rather than the alternative, joint (simultaneous) measurement. There has been discussion in the community whether this is appropriate. This brief paper argues that sequential measurement is not only the correct choice, but the best possible.
It will be shown that the Peres-Mermin square admits value-definite noncontextual hidden-variable models if the observables associated with the operators can be measured only sequentially but not simultaneously. Namely, sequential measurements allow for noncontextual models in which hidden states update between consecutive measurements. Two recent experiments realizing the Peres-Mermin square by sequential measurements will also be analyzed along with other hidden-variable models accounting for these experiments.
This paper discusses some tests of Bell-like inequalities not requiring entangled states. The proposed tests are based on consecutive measurements on a single qubit. Available hidden-variable models for a single qubit [see, e.g., J. S. Bell, Rev. Mod. Phys. 38, 447 (1966)] reproduce the predictions of quantum mechanics and hence violate the Bell-like inequalities addressed in this paper. It is shown how this fact is connected with the state ``collapse'' and with its random nature. Thus, it becomes possible to test truly realistic and deterministic hidden-variable models. In this way, it can be shown that a hidden-variable model should entail at least one of the following features: (i) nonlocality, (ii) contextuality, or (iii) discontinuous measurement-dependent probability functions. The last two features are put to the test with the experiments proposed in this paper. A hidden-variable model that is noncontextual and deterministic would be at variance with some predictions of quantum mechanics. Furthermore, the proposed tests are more likely to be loophole-free, as compared to former ones.
It has been argued that any test of quantum contextuality is nullified by the fact that perfect orthogonality and perfect compatibility cannot be achieved in finite precision experiments. We introduce experimentally testable two-qutrit violations of inequalities for noncontextual theories in which compatibility is guaranteed by the fact that measurements are performed on separated qutrits. The inequalities are inspired by the basic building block of the Kochen-Specker proof of quantum contextuality for a qutrit, despite the fact that their proof is completely independent of it.