Abstract In quantum information, device-independent (DI) protocols offer a new approach to information processing tasks, making minimal assumptions about the devices used. Typically, since these protocols draw conclusions directly from the data collected in a meaningful Bell test, the no-signaling conditions, and often even Born’s rule for local measurements, are taken as premises of the protocol. Here, we demonstrate how to test such premises in an (almost) DI setting, i.e. directly from the raw data and with minimal assumptions. In particular, for IBM’s quantum computing cloud services, we implement the prediction-based ratio protocol to characterize how well the qubits can be accessed locally and independently. More precisely, by performing a variety of Clauser–Horne–Shimony–Holt-type experiments on these systems and carrying out rigorous hypothesis tests on the collected data, we provide compelling evidence showing that some of these qubits suffer from measurement cross-talks, i.e. their measurement statistics are affected by the choice of measurement bases on another qubit. Unlike standard randomized benchmarking, our approach does not rely on assumptions such as gate-independent Markovian noise. Moreover, despite the relatively small number of experimental trials, the direction of ‘signaling’ may also be identified in some cases. Our approach thus serves as a complementary tool for benchmarking the local addressability of quantum computing devices.
Abstract In quantum information, device-independent (DI) protocols offer a new approach to information processing tasks, making minimal assumptions about the devices used. Typically, since these protocols draw conclusions directly from the data collected in a meaningful Bell test, the no-signaling conditions, and often even Born’s rule for local measurements, are taken as premises of the protocol. Here, we demonstrate how to test such premises in an (almost) DI setting, i.e. directly from the raw data and with minimal assumptions. In particular, for IBM’s quantum computing cloud services, we implement the prediction-based ratio protocol to characterize how well the qubits can be accessed locally and independently. More precisely, by performing a variety of Clauser–Horne–Shimony–Holt-type experiments on these systems and carrying out rigorous hypothesis tests on the collected data, we provide compelling evidence showing that some of these qubits suffer from measurement cross-talks, i.e. their measurement statistics are affected by the choice of measurement bases on another qubit. Unlike standard randomized benchmarking, our approach does not rely on assumptions such as gate-independent Markovian noise. Moreover, despite the relatively small number of experimental trials, the direction of ‘signaling’ may also be identified in some cases. Our approach thus serves as a complementary tool for benchmarking the local addressability of quantum computing devices.
In the development of quantum technologies, a reliable means for characterizing quantum devices, be it a measurement device, a state-preparation device, or a transformation device, is crucial. However, the conventional approach based on, for example, quantum state tomography or process tomography relies on assumptions that are often not necessarily justifiable in a realistic experimental setting. Although the device-independent (DI) approach to this problem bypasses the shortcomings above by making only minimal, justifiable assumptions, most of the theoretical proposals to date only work in the idealized setting where independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) trials are assumed. Here, we provide a versatile solution for rigorous device-independent certification that does not rely on the i.i.d. assumption. Specifically, we describe how the prediction-based ratio (PBR) protocol and martingale-based protocol developed for hypothesis testing can be applied in the present context to achieve a device-independent certification of desirable properties with confidence interval (CI). To illustrate the versatility of these methods, we demonstrate how we can use them to certify—with finite data—the underlying negativity, Hilbert space dimension, entanglement depth, and fidelity to some target pure state. In particular, we provide examples showing how the amount of certifiable negativity and fidelity scales with the number of trials and how many experimental trials one needs to certify a qutrit state space or the presence of genuine tripartite entanglement. Overall, we have found that the PBR protocol and the martingale-based protocol often offer similar performance, even though the latter does have to presuppose any witness (Bell-like inequality). In contrast, our findings also show that the performance of the martingale-based protocol may be severely affected by one’s choice of Bell-like inequality. Intriguingly, a Bell function useful for self-testing does not necessarily give the optimal confidence-gain rate for certifying the fidelity to the corresponding target state.
The device-independent approach to physics is one where conclusions about physical systems (and hence of Nature) are drawn directly and solely from the observed correlations between measurement outcomes. This operational approach to physics arose as a byproduct of Bell's seminal work to distinguish, via a Bell experiment, quantum correlations from the set of correlations allowed by locally-causal theories. In practice, since one can only perform a finite number of experimental trials, deciding whether an empirical observation is compatible with some class of physical theories will have to be carried out via the task of hypothesis testing. In this paper, we demonstrate how the prediction-based-ratio method---initially developed for performing a hypothesis testing against locally-causal correlations---can be applied to test also other classes of physical theories, such as those constrained only by the nonsignaling principle, and those that are constrained to produce the so-called almost-quantum set of correlations. As an application, we demonstrate how this method allows us to unveil an apparent violation of the nonsignaling conditions in certain experimental data collected in a Bell test. This, in turn, highlights the importance of the randomization of measurement settings, as well as a consistency check of the nonsignaling conditions in a Bell test.
The device-independent approach to physics is one where conclusions about physical systems (and hence of Nature) are drawn directly and solely from the observed correlations between measurement outcomes. This operational approach to physics arose as a byproduct of Bell's seminal work to distinguish, via a Bell test, quantum correlations from the set of correlations allowed by local-hidden-variable theories. In practice, since one can only perform a finite number of experimental trials, deciding whether an empirical observation is compatible with some class of physical theories will have to be carried out via the task of hypothesis testing. In this paper, we show that the prediction-based-ratio method-initially developed for performing a hypothesis test of local-hidden-variable theories-can equally well be applied to test many other classes of physical theories, such as those constrained only by the nonsignaling principle, and those that are constrained to produce any of the outer approximation to the quantum set of correlations due to Navascués-Pironio-Acín. We numerically simulate Bell tests using hypothetical nonlocal sources of correlations to illustrate the applicability of the method in both the independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) scenario and the non-i.i.d. scenario. As a further application, we demonstrate how this method allows us to unveil an apparent violation of the nonsignaling conditions in certain experimental data collected in a Bell test. This, in turn, highlights the importance of the randomization of measurement settings, as well as a consistency check of the nonsignaling conditions in a Bell test.
Bell nonlocality is the experimentally testable incompatibility between quantum correlations and explanations based on local hidden variables. Its significance now extends beyond the foundations of quantum mechanics: a Bell-inequality violation can certify entanglement, randomness, measurement incompatibility, and cryptographic security without requiring a detailed model of the devices producing the observed data. This article develops the mathematical structure of Bell experiments and explains its role in device-independent quantum information. Conditional probability distributions are classified into local, quantum, and no-signalling sets; the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt inequality is derived, and its classical, quantum, and algebraic limits are distinguished. Tsirelson’s bound is obtained from the CHSH operator, while Popescu-Rohrlich correlations demonstrate that no-signalling alone does not identify the quantum set. The relation between entanglement and nonlocality is examined through local entangled states, hidden nonlocality, and activation. Nonlocal games, semidefinite relaxations, self-testing, certified randomness, and device-independent quantum key distribution are treated as operational consequences of Bell violation. Particular attention is given to entropy accumulation, finite-data security, loophole-free experiments, and the limitations of device independence. Bell nonlocality emerges as both a foundational separation between classical and quantum causal models and a quantitative resource for cryptographic and informational tasks.
Given a pair of isolated devices that accept random binary inputs and return binary outputs, a user can deduce from the observed data alone if the underlying mechanism can be explained classically. Bell's theorem further states that a classical explanation can be ruled out if the devices perform certain measurements on an entangled quantum state, underpinning the security of cryptographic protocols that are device-independent (DI). For certain protocols, such as those performed in a tight space, it might be difficult to perfectly enforce the non-signaling assumption required in Bell's theorem. This prompts the question: is quantum nonlocality robust to such imperfections? We show that if a binary channel sends a noisy copy of one party's input to the other before any measurements take place, the answer is yes. We completely characterize the vertices and facets of the local polytope in this scenario, and identify Bell inequalities that certify non-signaling quantum correlations. This is possible even when a near perfect copy of the input is sent. We go on to show that the identified inequalities are more robust to depolarizing noise than the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt inequality when certifying DI randomness in this scenario. In addition, we characterize the local polytope when both parties receive a noisy copy of each other's input and make similar conclusions, leaving many new potential Bell inequalities to be explored.
Quantum nonlocality stands as a resource for device independent quantum information processing (DIQIP), such as, for instance, device independent quantum key distribution. We investigate, experimentally, the assumption of limited measurement dependence, i.e., that the measurement settings used in Bell inequality tests or DIQIP are partially influenced by the source of entangled particle and/or by an adversary. Using a recently derived Bell-like inequality [G. Pütz, Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 190402 (2014)] and a 99% fidelity source of partially entangled polarization photonic qubits, we obtain a clear violation of the inequality, excluding a much larger range of measurement dependent local models than would be possible with an adapted Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) inequality. It is therefore shown that the measurement independence assumption can be widely relaxed while still demonstrating quantum nonlocality.