Bell-CHSH-like inequalities have been very successful in benchmarking {\it spatial} quantum correlations. However, as this paper illustrates, they are in general not sufficient for benchmarking {\it temporal} quantum correlations. To show this, we parametrise classical and quantum stochastic finite state generators based on a single bit and a single qubit, respectively, and compare the temporal correlations of their output sequences using a Bell-CHSH-like inequality. We find that for sequential measurements by two observers, Alice and Bob, classical machines can exceed the Tsirelson bound of $2\sqrt{2}$, due to their fundamental structure. However, when we consider a time delay between consecutive measurements, we find examples where the quantum machines outperform their classical counterparts by maintaining correlations longer under generally scrambling operations. Our result can be used to distinguish quantum from classical processes and to identify novel resources for quantum technology applications.
Bell-CHSH-like inequalities have been very successful in benchmarking {\it spatial} quantum correlations. However, as this paper illustrates, they are in general not sufficient for benchmarking {\it temporal} quantum correlations. To show this, we parametrise classical and quantum stochastic finite state generators based on a single bit and a single qubit, respectively, and compare the temporal correlations of their output sequences using a Bell-CHSH-like inequality. We find that for sequential measurements by two observers, Alice and Bob, classical machines can exceed the Tsirelson bound of 22, due to their fundamental structure. However, when we consider a time delay between consecutive measurements, we find examples where the quantum machines outperform their classical counterparts by maintaining correlations longer under generally scrambling operations. Our result can be used to distinguish quantum from classical processes and to identify novel resources for quantum technology applications.
Quantum mechanics is nonlocal, meaning it cannot be described by any classical local hidden variable model. In this thesis we study two aspects of quantum nonlocality. Part I addresses the question of what classical resources are required to simulate nonlocal quantum correlations. We start by constructing new local models for noisy entangled quantum states. These constructions exploit the connection between nonlocality and Grothendieck's inequality, first noticed by Tsirelson. Next, we consider local models augmented by a limited amount of classical communication. After generalizing Bell inequalities to this setting, we show that (i) one bit of communication is sufficient to simulate the correlations of projective measurements on a maximally entangled state of two qubits, and (ii) five bits of communication are sufficient to simulate the joint correlation of two-outcome measurements on any bipartite quantum state. The latter result can be interpreted as a stronger (constrained) version of Grothendieck's inequality. In part II, we investigate the monogamy of nonlocal correlations. In a setting where three parties, A, B, and C, share an entangled quantum state of arbitrary dimension, we: (i) bound the trade-off between AB's and AC's violation of the CHSH inequality, obtaining an intriguing generalization of Tsirelson's bound, and (ii) demonstrate that forcing B and C to be classically correlated prevents A and B from violating certain Bell inequalities. We study not only correlations that arise within quantum theory, but also arbitrary correlations that do not allow signaling between separate groups of parties. These results are based on new techniques for obtaining Tsirelson bounds, or bounds on the quantum value of a Bell inequality, and have applications to interactive proof systems and cryptography.
Abstract A possible notion of nonclassicality for single systems can be defined on the basis of the notion of memory cost of classically simulating probabilities observed in a temporal sequence of measurements. We further explore this idea in a theory-independent framework, namely, from the perspective of general probability theories (GPTs), which includes classical and quantum theory as special examples. Under the assumption that each system has a finite memory capacity, identified with the maximal number of states perfectly distinguishable with a single measurement, we investigate what are the temporal correlations achievable with different theories, namely, classical, quantum, and GPTs beyond quantum mechanics. Already for the simplest nontrivial scenario, we derive inequalities able to distinguish temporal correlations where the underlying system is classical, quantum, or more general.
Abstract Multipartite quantum correlations are a powerful resource that underpins applications from quantum metrology to quantum computing. While most research has focused on spatial correlations, it is now becoming clear that a sequence of measurements on a single quantum system at different points in time reveals a similarly rich, yet fundamentally different structure of multipartite temporal correlations. Here we experimentally observe genuine multi-time correlations in a sequence of three generalized measurements on a single photon. These correlations, manifest by a simultaneous violation of all pairwise Bell inequalities, cannot be reproduced by any spatial quantum state of equal dimension. Our work lays the foundation for the exploration of temporal correlations arising in quantum networks for quantum information applications.
In this paper we focus on the underlying quantum structure of temporal correlations and show their peculiar nature which differentiate them from spatial quantum correlations. We show rigorously that a particular entangled history, which can be associated with a quantum propagator, is monogamous to conserve its consistency throughout time. Yet evolving systems violate monogamous Bell-like multi-time inequalities. This dichotomy, being a novel feature of temporal correlations, has its roots in the measurement process itself which is discussed by means of the bundles of entangled histories. We introduce and discuss a concept of a probabilistic mixture of quantum processes by means of which we clarify why the spatial-like Bell-type monogamous inequalities are further violated. We prove that Tsirelson bound on temporal Bell-like inequalities can be derived from the entangled histories approach and as a generalization, we derive the quantum bound for multi-time Bell-like inequalities. It is also pointed out that what mimics violation of monogamy of temporal entanglement is actually just a kind of polyamory in time but monogamy of entanglement for a particular evolution still holds.
In 1964, John Bell showed that any local hidden‑variable theory must satisfy a specific inequality on correlations between distant measurements. In its CHSH form (Clauser, Horne, Shimony, Holt 1969), the inequality reads |S| = |E(a,b) + E(a,b′) + E(a′,b) − E(a′,b′)| ≤ 2, where E(a,b) is the correlation between measurement outcomes at two separated parties using settings a and b. Any local realist theory respects this bound. Quantum mechanics violates it. Experiments confirm the violation. The standard quantum prediction for a maximally entangled state with optimal measurement angles is |S| = 2√2 ≈ 2.828. In 1980, Boris Tsirelson proved that 2√2 is not just one quantum prediction — it is the *maximum* value any quantum correlation can produce. No quantum state, no measurement scheme, no clever protocol can push |S| beyond 2√2. The bound is sharp, the value is exact, and it has been measured in laboratories around the world to experimental precision. The Tsirelson bound is one of the deepest empirical structures in physics. It tells us that quantum correlations exceed classical correlations by a specific, finite amount — there is room to violate Bell’s inequality, but only so much room. The number 2√2 has no obvious physical interpretation. It does not appear in the formulation of quantum mechanics. It emerges from the mathematics of the bipartite Hilbert space when the CHSH operator is constructed and bounded. The question is where it comes from. In standard QM, the answer is that it falls out of the Hilbert‑space structure plus Cauchy–Schwarz plus an operator‑norm bound on the CHSH operator. Technically correct, and Tsirelson’s 1980 proof remains the canonical derivation — but it leaves the deeper structure unanswered. The Hilbert space is postulated. The inner product that makes Cauchy–Schwarz available is postulated. The bipartite tensor‑product structure on H_A ⊗ H_B is postulated. The 2√2 value is what those postulates produce when run through the CHSH operator. This walkthrough shows how the Event Density framework derives the Tsirelson bound from a smaller set of structural commitments. The Hilbert‑space structure, the inner product, and the bipartite tensor‑product structure all emerge as forced consequences of the substrate ontology rather than being postulated. With those structures forced rather than assumed, Tsirelson’s 1980 argument applies directly, and the 2√2 value is no longer the output of a chain of postulates but the output of a chain of derived theorems. Like Heisenberg, Bell–Tsirelson is a place where the framework’s contribution is upstream. The bound itself is mathematical physics already in the literature; what changes is the foundational status of the structures the argument requires. ED does not produce a new derivation step beyond standard QM here — it removes the postulational status of the structures the standard derivation already uses. The 2√2 value is now a derived consequence of the substrate ontology, all the way down.
In quantum mechanics, spatial correlations arising from measurements at separated particles are well studied. This is not the case, however, for the temporal correlations arising from a single quantum system subjected to a sequence of generalized measurements. We first characterize the polytope of temporal quantum correlations coming from the most general measurements. We then show that if the dimension of the quantum system is bounded, only a subset of the most general correlations can be realized and identify the correlations in the simplest scenario that can not be reached by two-dimensional systems. This leads to a temporal inequality for a dimension test, and we discuss a possible implementation using nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond.