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Physical Review A

Bell theorem without inequalities for two particles. I. Efficient detectors

Daniel M. Greenberger, Michael Horne, Anton Zeilinger

Published Aug 22, 2008• 17 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We consider an entangled two-particle state that is produced from two independent downconversion laser sources by the process of ``entanglement swapping,'' so that the particles have never met. We prove a Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger type theorem, showing that any deterministic, local, realistic theory is inconsistent with the quantum-mechanical perfect correlations for such a state. This theorem holds for individual events, with no inequalities, for detectors of 100% efficiency.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.78.022110

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We consider an entangled two-particle state that is produced from two independent downconversion laser sources by the process of ``entanglement swapping,'' so that the particles have never met. We prove a Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger type theorem, showing that any deterministic, local, realistic theory is inconsistent with the quantum-mechanical perfect correlations for such a state. This theorem holds for individual events, with no inequalities, for detectors of 100% efficiency.
We again consider (as in a companion paper) an entangled two-particle state that is produced from two independent downconversion sources by the process of ``entanglement swapping,'' so that the particles have never met. We show that there is a natural extension of the Einstein-Pololsky-Rosen discussion of ``elements of reality'' to include inefficient detectors. We consider inefficient deterministic, local, realistic models of quantum theory that are ``robust,'' which we consider to be the minimum requirement for them to be taken seriously. By robust, we mean they satisfy the following three criteria: (a) they reproduce the quantum results for perfect correlations, if all particles are detected; (b) they produce some counts for every setting of the angles (so they do not describe some experiments that can easily be performed as ``impossible''); (c) all their hidden variables are relevant (they must each produce a detectable result in some experiment). For such models, we prove a Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger type theorem for arbitrary detection efficiencies, showing that any such theory is inconsistent with the quantum-mechanical perfect correlations. This theorem holds for individual events with no inequalities. As a result, the theorem is also independent of any random sampling hypothesis, and we take it as a refutation of such realistic theories, free of the detection efficiency and random sampling ``loopholes.'' The hidden variable analysis depends crucially on the use of two independent laser sources for the downconversions. We also investigate the necessity of using two independent sources versus a single source for all particles. Finally, we argue that the state we use can legitimately be considered as a two-particle state, and used as such in experiments.
We again consider (as in a companion paper) an entangled two-particle state that is produced from two independent down-conversion sources by the process of "entanglement-swapping", so that the particles have never met. We show that there is a natural extension of the Einstein-Pololsky-Rosen discussion of "elements of reality" to include inefficient detectors. We consider inefficient deterministic, local, realistic models of quantum theory that are "robust", which we consider to be the minimum requirement for them to be taken seriously. By robust, we mean they satisfy the following three criteria: (a) they reproduce the quantum results for perfect correlations, if all particles are detected; (b) they produce some counts for every setting of the angles (so they don't describe some experiments that can easily be performed as "impossible"); (c) all their hidden variables are relevant (they must each produce a detectable result in some experiment). For such models we prove a Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) type theorem for arbitrary detection efficiencies, showing that any such theory is inconsistent with the quantum mechanical perfect correlations. This theorem holds for individual events with no inequalities. As a result, the theorem is also independent of any random sampling hypothesis.
Introduction Since its inception, fifty years ago, Bell's theorem has had a long history not only of experimental tests but also of theoretical developments. Studying pairs of correlated quantummechanical particles separated in space, in a composite “entangled” state, Bell [1] showed that the joint ascription of hidden variables and locality to the system led to an inequality that is violated by the predictions of quantum mechanics. Fifteen years later, experiments confirmed the predictions of quantum mechanics, ruling out a large class of local realist theories. One of the most meaningful theoretical developments that followed Bell's work was the Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger (GHZ) theorem, also known as Bell's theorem without inequalities. In 1989, the American physicists Daniel Greenberger and Michael Horne, who had been working on Bell's theorem since the late 1960s, together with the Austrian physicist Anton Zeilinger, introduced a novelty into the testing of entanglement, extending Bell's theorem in a different and interesting direction. According to Franck Laloë [2], For many years, everyone thought that Bell had basically exhausted the subject by considering all really interesting situations, and that two-spin systems provided the most spectacular quantum violations of local realism. It therefore came as a surprise to many when in 1989 Greenberger, Horne, and Zeilinger (GHZ) showed that systems containing more than two correlated particles may actually exhibit even more dramatic violations of local realism. The trio analyzed the Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen 1935 argument once again and were able to write what are now called Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger (GHZ) entangled states, involving three or four correlated spin-1/2 particles, leading to conflicts between local realist theories and quantum mechanics. However, unlike Bell's theorem, the conflict now was not of a statistical nature, as was the case with Bell's theorem, insofar as measurements on a single GHZ state could lead to conflicting predictions with local realistic models [3–5]. In this paper we present the history of the creation of this theorem and analyze its scope.
Bell's theorem revealed that a local hidden-variable model cannot completely reproduce the quantum mechanical predictions. Bell's inequality provides an upper bound under the locality and reality assumptions that can be violated by correlated measurement statistics of quantum mechanics. Greenberger, Horne, and Zeilinger (GHZ) gave a more compelling proof of Bell's theorem without inequalities by considering perfect correlations rather than statistical correlations. This work presents a temporal analog of the GHZ argument that establishes Bell's theorem in time without inequalities.
A proof of Bell's theorem without inequalities valid for both inequivalent classes of three-qubit entangled states under local operations assisted by classical communication, namely Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) and W,W,W, is described. This proof leads to a Bell inequality that allows more conclusive tests of Bell's theorem for three-qubit systems. Another Bell inequality involving both tri- and bipartite correlations is introduced which illustrates the different violations of local realism exhibited by the GHZ and WWW states.