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arXiv:2608.21915

Synchronization induces Bell violations in a model of walking droplets

Álvaro G. López, Rahil N. Valani, Yuanmei Li, John W. M. Bush

Published Aug 22, 2026• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We consider a reduced Lorenz-like model that describes two walking droplets interacting through their mutual wave field, and investigate the emergence of strong bipartite correlations in this classical wave-particle system. The coupled nonlinear dynamics admit two invariant synchronization manifolds associated with correlated and anticorrelated states, within which the droplets display synchronized chaotic intermittency. Employing measurement protocols inspired by Bell experiments, we compute position correlations from the long-time dynamics and identify parameter regimes for which the CHSH-Bell parameter $S$ exceeds 2, corresponding to violations of Bell's Inequality. We further introduce a procedure for isolating the two subsystems, thereby ensuring the absence of wave-mediated signaling between them. Changing measurement settings following this isolation allows us to execute dynamic Bell tests in which violations persist. Our results demonstrate that nonlinear deterministic dynamics can produce Bell violations through wave-mediated synchronization mechanisms; moreover, these violations may be rationalized on the grounds that the wave form is influenced by the measurement settings. We thus provide a consistent dynamical framework for the appearance of classical entanglement in pilot-wave systems.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2608.21915

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We consider a reduced Lorenz-like model that describes two walking droplets interacting through their mutual wave field, and investigate the emergence of strong bipartite correlations in this classical wave-particle system. The coupled nonlinear dynamics admit two invariant synchronization manifolds associated with correlated and anticorrelated states, within which the droplets display synchronized chaotic intermittency. Employing measurement protocols inspired by Bell experiments, we compute position correlations from the long-time dynamics and identify parameter regimes for which the CHSH-Bell parameter SSS exceeds 2, corresponding to violations of Bell's Inequality. We further introduce a procedure for isolating the two subsystems, thereby ensuring the absence of wave-mediated signaling between them. Changing measurement settings following this isolation allows us to execute dynamic Bell tests in which violations persist. Our results demonstrate that nonlinear deterministic dynamics can produce Bell violations through wave-mediated synchronization mechanisms; moreover, these violations may be rationalized on the grounds that the wave form is influenced by the measurement settings. We thus provide a consistent dynamical framework for the appearance of classical entanglement in pilot-wave systems.
Since its discovery in 2005, the hydrodynamic pilot-wave system has provided a concrete macroscopic realization of wave-particle duality and concomitant classical analogs of a growing list of quantum effects. The question naturally arises as to whether this system might support statistical states that violate Bell's inequality, and so yield a classical analog of quantum entanglement. We here introduce a new platform for addressing this question, a numerical model of coupled bipartite tunneling in the hydrodynamic pilot-wave system. We demonstrate that, under certain conditions, the Bell inequality is violated in a static Bell test owing to correlations induced by the wave-mediated coupling between the two subsystems. The establishment of non-factorizable states with two spatially separated classical particles introduces the possibility of novel forms of quantum-inspired classical computing.
Bouncing fluid droplets can walk on the surface of a vibrating bath forming a wave-particle association. Walking droplets have many quantum-like features. Research efforts are continuously exploring quantum analogues and respective limitations. Here, we demonstrate that two oscillating particles (millimetric droplets) confined to separate potential wells exhibit correlated dynamical features, even when separated by a large distance. A key feature is the underlying wave mediated dynamics. The particles' phase space dynamics is given by the system as a whole and cannot be described independently. Numerical phase space histograms display statistical coherence; the particles' intricate distributions in phase space are statistically indistinguishable. However, removing one particle changes the phase space picture completely, which is reminiscent of entanglement. The model here presented also relates to nonlinearly coupled oscillators where synchronization can break out spontaneously. The present oscillator-coupling is dynamic and can change intensity through the underlying wave field as opposed to, for example, the Kuramoto model where the coupling is pre-defined. There are some regimes where we observe phase-locking or, more generally, regimes where the oscillators are statistically indistinguishable in phase-space, where numerical histograms display their (mutual) most likely amplitude and phase.
We describe results from a Monte-Carlo simulation of Bell-CHSH type correlations in hydrodynamic walkers. We study feasibility of a real life walker test with relevant hydrodynamic parametric ranges. We observe the generic formation of pairs of walkers strongly anti-correlated both in position and momentum. With this source of entangled walkers, we model the insertion of 2 pins in the bath as a notion of measure, akin to the polarizers of photonic Bell tests. This insertion of pins, either static or dynamic, introduces 2 weak field signals. Each field has the physical form of a standing wave Bessel hat, representing the non-local (field mediated) influences of the measure on the walkers. With this representation of the measure, we develop protocol for a Bell game with actual hydrodynamic walkers. We model both static and dynamic insertion of pins in the walker bath. Static pins give us numerical S > 2, as a permissible Bell violation for a non-local (field based) effect. Dynamic insertion of the pins, however, leads to causal space separation of the two arms. We observe the again expected S ≤ 2. We argue for the hydrodynamic implementation and observation of these effects as a walker visualization of Bell inequalities.
The experimental violation of Bell's Theorem in quantum systems is generally taken as proof of the impossibility of local hidden variable theories, as would provide a rational dynamical underpinning for quantum mechanics. We here present a platform for executing Bell tests in pilot-wave hydrodynamics, a system known to capture many features of the quantum realm. We execute a static test in a bipartite tunneling system, and rationalize the emergent violations in terms of the wave-mediated coupling between the two subsystems.
Since its discovery in 2005, the hydrodynamic pilot-wave system has emerged as a classical platform for exploring aspects of wave–particle duality. In these systems, bouncing droplets or droplets emitted from hydrodynamic cavities propagate on a vertically vibrating fluid bath. These droplets, guided by their self-generated wave fields, continue to provide a macroscopic setting in which several features commonly associated with quantum theory may be examined from a classical perspective. Recent work has extended this program beyond single-particle analogies toward cooperative emission, bipartite tunneling, and static Bell-type correlation functions, with particular emphasis on the roles of memory, wave-mediated coupling, and contextuality.
A droplet bouncing on the surface of a vibrating liquid bath can move horizontally guided by the wave it produces on impacting the bath. The wave itself is modified by the environment, and thus, the interactions of the moving droplet with the surroundings are mediated through the wave. This forms an example of a pilot-wave system. Taking the Oza–Rosales–Bush description for walking droplets as a theoretical pilot-wave model, we investigate the dynamics of two interacting identical, in-phase bouncing droplets theoretically and numerically. A remarkably rich range of behaviors is encountered as a function of the two system parameters, the ratio of inertia to drag, κ, and the ratio of wave forcing to drag, β. The droplets typically travel together in a tightly bound pair, although they unbind when the wave forcing is large and inertia is small or inertia is moderately large and wave forcing is moderately small. Bound pairs can exhibit a range of trajectories depending on parameter values, including straight lines, sub-diffusive random walks, and closed loops. The droplets themselves may maintain their relative positions, oscillate toward and away from one another, or interchange positions regularly or chaotically as they travel. We explore these regimes and others and the bifurcations between them through analytic and numerical linear stability analyses and through fully nonlinear numerical simulation.