As first shown by Popescu (1995 Phys. Rev. Lett. 74 2619), some quantum states only reveal their nonlocality when subjected to a sequence of measurements while giving rise to local correlations in standard Bell tests. Motivated by this manifestation of 'hidden nonlocality' we set out to develop a general framework for the study of nonlocality when sequences of measurements are performed. Similar to Gallego et al (2013 Phys. Rev. Lett. 109 070401) our approach is operational, i.e. the task is to identify the set of allowed operations in sequential correlation scenarios and define nonlocality as the resource that cannot be created by these operations. This leads to a characterization of sequential nonlocality that contains as particular cases standard nonlocality and hidden nonlocality.
As first shown by Popescu (1995 Phys. Rev. Lett. 74 2619), some quantum states only reveal their nonlocality when subjected to a sequence of measurements while giving rise to local correlations in standard Bell tests. Motivated by this manifestation of 'hidden nonlocality' we set out to develop a general framework for the study of nonlocality when sequences of measurements are performed. Similar to Gallego et al (2013 Phys. Rev. Lett. 109 070401) our approach is operational, i.e. the task is to identify the set of allowed operations in sequential correlation scenarios and define nonlocality as the resource that cannot be created by these operations. This leads to a characterization of sequential nonlocality that contains as particular cases standard nonlocality and hidden nonlocality.
Despite the success of quantum mechanics in predicting the outcomes of experiments in many branches of physics, the foundations of the theory have remained subject of research and dispute. At the basis of this struggle with the theory lie the phenomena of nonlocality and entanglement. Since it was first predicted by Bell in 1964, nonlocality was not only verified in numerous experiments, but also identified as a useful resource for quantum information processing. Thus, the study of nonlocality is important both from a fundamental point of view and with respect to new applications in quantum information theory, such as secure cryptography and randomness generation. The identification of entanglement as a resource for quantum information led to a strong theoretical effort devoted to its characterisation and detection. Many of the resulting mathematical tools find application in several domains of physics. Although the only known way to create nonlocal correlations is to measure entangled quantum systems, it has been shown that entanglement and nonlocality constitute two inequivalent properties. Therefore, in the light of the success of entanglement theory, it is of interest to also devise a resource theory of nonlocality. The task of this thesis is to develop such a theoretical framework for the characterisation of nonlocality as a resource. To gain a better understanding of nonlocal correlations it will be necessary to investigate correlation scenarios that go beyond the situation originally considered by Bell. In doing so, this thesis provides new description of nonlocality that also have implications for the characterisation of quantum correlations and the detection of new forms of nonlocality. The first question we address is how nonlocality can consistently be defined in a scenario of arbitrarily many parties that may collaborate among each other. To this end we recognise which are the allowed physical operations in this situation and then define nonlocality as the resource that cannot be created by these operations. Our approach shows that the conventional definition of multipartite nonlocality, adopted by the community so far, is inconsistent with this operational definition; we further propose and analyse new models that do not suffer from these inconsistencies. Furthermore, we show that our findings have implications for the characterisation of quantum correlations. A recent approach to describe the set of quantum correlation consists in using principles inspired from information theory. By using a special instance of the models we defined earlier we show a fundamental limitation of this approach: no bipartite information principle is sufficient to single out the set of quantum correlations from the set of nonsignalling correlations. We then developed a description of nonlocality in an even more generalised scenario of several parties. Motivated by a result of Popescu we study scenarios where the parties are allowed to perform not only a single but sequences of measurements on their systems. Characterising nonlocality also in this scenario in operational terms and defining local models compatible with this definition, we show that a new form of nonlocality can be detected Lastly, we examine the problem of detecting the presence of nonlocality in a multipartite scenario when one is given only partial access to the global system. We find that one can verify that the total system must display nonlocality, even though the accessible subsystems only exhibit local correlations.
Nonlocal correlations arising from measurements on tripartite entangled states can be classified into two groups, one genuinely three-way nonlocal and other local with respect to some bipartition. Still, whether a genuinely tripartite entangled quantum state can exhibit genuine three-way nonlocality remains a challenging problem as far as measurement context is concerned. Here we introduce an approach in this regard. We consider three tripartite quantum states, none of which is genuinely three-way nonlocal in a specific Bell scenario (three parties, two measurements per party, two outcomes per measurement), but they can exhibit genuine three-way nonlocality when the initial states are subjected to stochastic local operations and classical communication. So, genuine three-way nonlocality is a resource which can be revealed by using a sequence of measurements.
Measurements performed on distant parts of an entangled quantum state can generate correlations incompatible with classical theories respecting the assumption of local causality. This is the phenomenon known as quantum nonlocality that, apart from its fundamental role, can also be put to practical use in applications such as cryptography and distributed computing. Clearly, developing ways of quantifying nonlocality is an important primitive in this scenario. Here, we propose to quantify the nonlocality of a given probability distribution via its trace distance to the set of classical correlations. We show that this measure is a monotone under the free operations of a resource theory and, furthermore, that it can be computed efficiently with a linear program. We put our framework to use in a variety of relevant Bell scenarios also comparing the trace distance to other standard measures in the literature.
Because of the importance of entanglement for quantum information purposes, a framework has been developed for its characterization and quantification as a resource based on the following operational principle: entanglement among N parties cannot be created by local operations and classical communication, even when N-1 parties collaborate. More recently, nonlocality has been identified as another resource, alternative to entanglement and necessary for device-independent quantum information protocols. We introduce an operational framework for nonlocality based on a similar principle: nonlocality among N parties cannot be created by local operations and allowed classical communication even when N-1 parties collaborate. We then show that the standard definition of multipartite nonlocality, due to Svetlichny, is inconsistent with this operational approach: according to it, genuine tripartite nonlocality could be created by two collaborating parties. We finally discuss alternative definitions for which consistency is recovered.
Motivated by Popescu's example of hidden nonlocality [Phys. Rev. Lett. 74, 2619 (1995)], we elaborate on the conjecture that quantum states that are intuitively nonlocal, i.e., entangled, do not admit a local causal hidden-variables model. We exhibit quantum states which either (i) are nontrivial counterexamples to this conjecture or (ii) possess a new kind of more deeply hidden irreducible nonlocality. Moreover, we propose a nonlocality complexity classification scheme suggested by the latter possibility. Furthermore, we show that Werner's [Phys. Rev. A 40, 4277 (1989)] (and similar) hidden-variables models can be extended to an important class of generalized observables. Finally, a result of Fine [Phys. Rev. Lett. 48, 291 (1982)] on the equivalence of stochastic and deterministic hidden variables is generalized to causal models.
With the advent of device-independent quantum information processing, nonlocality is nowadays regarded as a resource that can be used for various tasks. Using the analogy of entanglement theory, we approach nonlocality from this perspective. In order to do so, we analyze in full detail the operations that can be implemented in this scenario and under which nonlocality cannot increase. This provides a theoretical basis from which to study how to order and quantify nonlocal behavior. Finally, we review several nonlocality measures and discuss their validity from this point of view. This article is part of a special issue of Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical devoted to ‘50 years of Bell's theorem’.