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arXiv:1005.2402 · Europhysics Letters (EPL)

A variant of Peres-Mermin proof for testing noncontextual realist models

A. K. Pan

Published May 1, 2010• 11 citations
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Abstract

For any state in a four-dimensional system, the quantum violation of an inequality based on the Peres-Mermin proof for testing noncontextual realist models has experimentally been corroborated. In the Peres-Mermin proof, an array of nine holistic observables for two two-qubit systems was used. In this letter, we present a new symmetric set of observables for the same system which also provides a contradiction of quantum mechanics with noncontextual realist models in a state-independent way. The whole argument can also be cast in the form of a new inequality that can be empirically tested.

DOI
10.1209/0295-5075/90/40002

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For any state in a four-dimensional system, the quantum violation of an inequality based on the Peres-Mermin proof for testing noncontextual realist models has experimentally been corroborated. In the Peres-Mermin proof, an array of nine holistic observables for two two-qubit systems was used. In this letter, we present a new symmetric set of observables for the same system which also provides a contradiction of quantum mechanics with noncontextual realist models in a state-independent way. The whole argument can also be cast in the form of a new inequality that can be empirically tested.
The contradiction between classical and quantum physics can be identified through quantum contextuality, which does not need composite systems or spacelike separation. Contextuality is proven either by a logical contradiction between the noncontextuality hidden variable predictions and those of quantum mechanics or by the violation of noncontextual inequality. We propose an experimental scheme of state-independent contextual inequality derived from the Mermin proof of the Kochen–Specker (KS) theorem in eight-dimensional Hilbert space, which could be observed either in an individual system or in a composite system. We also show how to resolve the compatibility problems. Our scheme can be implemented in optical systems with current experiment techniques.
When a measurement is compatible with each of two other measurements that are incompatible with one another, these define distinct contexts for the given measurement. The Kochen–Specker theorem rules out models of quantum theory that satisfy a particular assumption of context-independence: that sharp measurements are assigned outcomes both deterministically and independently of their context. This notion of noncontextuality is not suited to a direct experimental test because realistic measurements always have some degree of unsharpness due to noise. However, a generalized notion of noncontextuality has been proposed that is applicable to any experimental procedure, including unsharp measurements, but also preparations as well, and for which a quantum no-go result still holds. According to this notion, the model need only specify a probability distribution over the outcomes of a measurement in a context-independent way, rather than specifying a particular outcome. It also implies novel constraints of context-independence for the representation of preparations. In this article, we describe a general technique for translating proofs of the Kochen–Specker theorem into inequality constraints on realistic experimental statistics, the violation of which witnesses the impossibility of a noncontextual model. We focus on algebraic state-independent proofs, using the Peres–Mermin square as our illustrative example. Our technique yields the necessary and sufficient conditions for a particular set of correlations (between the preparations and the measurements) to admit a noncontextual model. The inequalities thus derived are demonstrably robust to noise. We specify how experimental data must be processed in order to achieve a test of these inequalities. We also provide a criticism of prior proposals for experimental tests of noncontextuality based on the Peres–Mermin square.
The violation of contextuality inequalities shows a strong conflict between the noncontextual hidden variable theory and quantum mechanics. A single qutrit is the simplest indivisible quantum system that can allow a state-dependent contextuality test with five observables and a state-independent contextuality test with 13 observables. For any qutrit states, except for the maximally mixed state, one can always find a set of nine observables for which the corresponding inequality is violated [P. Kurzynski and D. Kaszlikowski, Phys. Rev. A 86, 042125 (2012)]. In this paper, we demonstrate the violation of this inequality using single-photon experiments. Our experiments not only enrich the tests of quantum contextuality, but also deepen the understanding of the physical nature of quantum mechanics.
The contextuality of quantum mechanics can be shown by the violation of inequalities based on measurements of well chosen observables. These inequalities have been designed separately for both discrete and continuous variables. Here we unify both strategies by introducing general conditions to demonstrate the contextuality of quantum mechanics from measurements of observables of arbitrary dimensions. Among the consequences of our results is the impossibility of having a maximal violation of contextuality in the Peres-Mermin scenario with discrete observables of odd dimensions. In addition, we show how to construct a large class of observables with a continuous spectrum enabling the realization of contextuality tests both in the Gaussian and non-Gaussian regimes.
We propose a test of quantum contextuality for a single three-level system that uses nine projective measurements. It has the form of an inequality that has to be satisfied by any noncontextual theory. We show that for any qutrit state, except for the maximally mixed state, one can always find a set of nine observables for which the corresponding inequality is violated. This inequality is a test of contextuality that may offer insight into the relation between state-dependent and state-independent contextuality tests present in the literature.