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arXiv:2605.00981

The minimal example of quantum network Bell nonlocality

Erwan Don, Jessica Bavaresco, Patryk Lipka-Bartosik, Nicolas Gisin, Nicolas Brunner, Alejandro Pozas-Kerstjens

quant-phSubmitted May 1, 2026• Announced May 5, 2026• 0 citations

Abstract

In recent years, the study of Bell nonlocality has been generalized to quantum networks, where multiple independent sources distribute physical systems to distant parties who perform local measurements. In this context, a central open question is to identify the minimal network configuration in which quantum resources produce Bell nonlocal correlations. Here we address this question and show that quantum nonlocality is possible in the triangle network where the parties have no input choices and produce only binary-valued outcomes. To do so, we start by identifying a family of target distributions and proving their nonlocality. Next, we construct an explicit quantum model that reproduces the target distributions to machine precision. For this, we develop an efficient method for parameterizing quantum distributions in networks, inspired by the formalism of higher-order quantum operations. When considering the number of observed variables and their cardinality, this constitutes the smallest scenario possible that supports quantum nonlocality in networks. Moreover, by analyzing the explicit quantum model, we obtain new insights into how nonlocal distributions can be generated in quantum networks.

Comments: 8 pages, 4 figures, RevTeX 4.2. The computational appendix is available at https://www.github.com/Shamaii/minimal-network-nonlocality

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Nonlocal correlations created in networks with multiple independent sources enable surprising phenomena in quantum information and quantum foundations. The presence of independent sources, however, makes the analysis of network nonlocality challenging, and even in the simplest nontrivial scenarios a complete characterization is lacking. In this work we study one of the simplest of these scenarios, namely that of distributions invariant under permutations of parties in the minimal triangle network, which features no inputs and binary outcomes. We perform an exhaustive search for triangle-local models, and from it we infer analytic expressions for the boundaries of the set of distributions that admit such models, which we conjecture to be all the tight Bell inequalities for the scenario. Armed with them and with improved outer approximations of the set, we provide insights on the existence of a classical-quantum gap in the triangle network with binary outcomes.

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