The study of causal relations has recently been applied to the quantum realm, leading to the discovery that not all physical processes have a definite causal structure. While indefinite causal processes have previously been experimentally shown, these proofs relied on the quantum description of the experiments. Yet, the same experimental data could also be compatible with definite causal structures within different descriptions. Here, we present the first demonstration of indefinite temporal order outside of quantum formalism. We show that our experimental outcomes are incompatible with a class of generalised probabilistic theories satisfying the assumptions of locality and definite temporal order. To this end, we derive physical constraints (in the form of a Bell-like inequality) on experimental outcomes within such a class of theories. We then experimentally invalidate these theories by violating the inequality using entangled temporal order. This provides experimental evidence that there exist correlations in nature which are incompatible with the assumptions of locality and definite temporal order.
The study of causal relations has recently been applied to the quantum realm, leading to the discovery that not all physical processes have a definite causal structure. While indefinite causal processes have previously been experimentally shown, these proofs relied on the quantum description of the experiments. Yet, the same experimental data could also be compatible with definite causal structures within different descriptions. Here, we present the first demonstration of indefinite temporal order outside of quantum formalism. We show that our experimental outcomes are incompatible with a class of generalised probabilistic theories satisfying the assumptions of locality and definite temporal order. To this end, we derive physical constraints (in the form of a Bell-like inequality) on experimental outcomes within such a class of theories. We then experimentally invalidate these theories by violating the inequality using entangled temporal order. This provides experimental evidence that there exist correlations in nature which are incompatible with the assumptions of locality and definite temporal order.
In classical physics, events follow a definite causal order: the past influences the future, but not the reverse. Quantum theory, however, permits superpositions of causal orders—the so-called indefinite causal orders (ICOs)—which can provide operational advantages over classical scenarios. Verifying such phenomena has sparked significant interest, much like earlier efforts devoted to refuting local realism and confirming quantum entanglement. To date, demonstrations of ICO have all been based a process called the quantum switch and have relied on device-dependent or semi-device-independent protocols. Achieving a device-independent verification of ICO would imply that nature allows for correlations that do not respect causality, independent of any experimental assumptions or underlying theoretical description of the experiment. To this end, a recent theoretical development introduced a Bell-like inequality that allows for fully device-independent verification of ICO in a quantum switch. Here we implement this verification by experimentally violating this inequality. In particular, we measure a value of 1.8328 ± 0.0045 , which is 18 standard deviations above the definite causal order bound of 1.75 . Our work presents the first implementation of a device-independent protocol to verify ICO, albeit in the presence of experimental loopholes. This represents an important step toward the device-independent verification of an ICO and provides a context in which to identify loopholes specifically related to the verification of ICO.
Quantum theory is in principle compatible with processes that violate causal inequalities, an analogue of Bell inequalities that constrain the correlations observed by sets of parties operating in a definite causal order. Since the introduction of causal inequalities, determining their maximum quantum violation, analogue to Tsirelson’s bound for Bell inequalities, has remained an open problem. Here we provide a general method for bounding the violation of arbitrary causal inequalities, establishing limits to the correlations achievable by arbitrary local experiments and by arbitrary quantum processes with indefinite causal order. We prove that the maximum violation is generally smaller than the algebraic maximum of the corresponding correlation, and determine Tsirelson-like bounds for a class of causal inequalities including some of the most paradigmatic examples. Our results motivate a search for physical principles characterizing the boundary of the set of quantum correlations with indefinite causal order. Quantum theory has been shown to be compatible with processes violating a definite causal order, but no detailed analysis of the maximum allowed degree of violation has been carried out so far. Here, the authors fill this gap by providing the analogue of Tsirelson’s bound for the violation of causal inequalities.
Quantum theory is in principle compatible with processes that violate causal inequalities, an analogue of Bell inequalities that constrain the correlations observed by sets of parties operating in a definite causal order. Since the introduction of causal inequalities, determining their maximum quantum violation, analogue to Tsirelson's bound for Bell inequalities, has remained an open problem. Here we provide a general method for bounding the violation of arbitrary causal inequalities, establishing limits to the correlations achievable by arbitrary local experiments and by arbitrary quantum processes with indefinite causal order. We prove that the maximum violation is generally smaller than the algebraic maximum of the corresponding correlation, and determine Tsirelson-like bounds for a class of causal inequalities including some of the most paradigmatic examples. Our results motivate a search for physical principles characterizing the boundary of the set of quantum correlations with indefinite causal order.
This work reports experimental evidence of indefinite causal order in a quantum process characterized by a 6×6 process matrix. The model was constructed step-by-step from an empirical basis of four distinct types of quantum experiments (Bell tests, Leggett-Garg inequalities, weak measurements, and delayed-choice experiments), naturally leading to an atypical quantum model that defies conventional interpretations. The emergent structure occupies an intermediate (Madhyamika) position between realism and QBism, exhibiting features that challenge both local and non-local descriptions in spatial and temporal domains. The model's characteristics align most closely with Carlo Rovelli's Relational Interpretation, where quantum properties are not absolute but exist in relation to specific physical interactions. Has similarities with TSVF and Costa de Beauregard's models, but also some significative differences. Using methods of causal projection and witness optimization, the study identifies signatures of causal indefiniteness, quantified by a causal error of 0.1488±0.0001. The process exhibits a 75% ICO score indicating moderate evidence of indefinite causal order, with CHSH value 2.753 achieving 90.95% of the standard quantum bound. The analysis includes comprehensive statistical validation via bootstrap methods and comparison with synthetic causal and non-causal processes. The causal incompatibility persists under bootstrap resampling with injected noise up to σ=0.01, demonstrating robustness of the effect. The experimental process shows 3.2× greater causal error than reference ICO benchmarks. So the model would be falsifiable through various types of experiments not difficult to design. Key quantum characteristics include entanglement negativity of 0.474 and total coherence of 0.315, supporting genuine quantum signatures beyond classical causal models. The complete Python code for the analysis, including process matrix optimization, causal projection, witness optimization, and statistical validation, is provided. The work not only contributes to understanding fundamental limits of quantum causality but also provides an empirically grounded framework that bridges multiple quantum phenomena within a unified relational context, potentially facilitating new approaches to quantum information processing beyond conventional causal structures.
A temporal counterpart to Bell nonlocality would intuitively refer to the presence of non-classical correlations between timelike-separated events. The hypothesis of temporal nonlocality has received recent support in the literature, and its existence would likely influence the future development of physical theories. This paper shows how Adlam's principle of temporal locality can be violated within a protocol involving indefinite causal orders. While the derivations of Leggett-Garg inequalities or the temporal CHSH inequality are said to involve problematic assumptions preventing a targeted probing of a well-defined notion of temporal nonlocality, the present test is free from such worries. However, it is shown that the test, in its current formulation, fails to be fully model-independent. We provide several considerations regarding the physicality of ICOs that could help alleviate this drawback. In the present work, a specific physical interpretation of ICOs in terms of retrocausal influences would explain the presence of temporally nonlocal correlations. It is argued that, as the physical underpinnings of temporal nonlocality might also account for standard Bell nonlocality, focusing on the former as a consequence of ICOs might support under-explored strategies to make sense of the latter.
Quantum processes can exhibit indefinite causal order, allowing coherent superpositions of distinct orderings of events. Whether such processes generate genuinely noncausal statistics, however, depends not only on their global causal structure but also on the local operations available to the parties. Here, we restrict communication to the classical outcomes of local operations, yielding a causal polytope with new causal inequalities that can be violated using measure-and-reprepare, entanglement-breaking instruments requiring no coherent transmission through the laboratories. Using a semidefinite-programming framework, we bound the achievable violations and reveal noncausal correlations that satisfy all conventional input-signalling inequalities, demonstrating that restricting the information available for communication can uncover forms of indefinite causal order inaccessible under less restrictive operational assumptions.