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The Physics Teacher

Bell's Theorem and Einstein's ‘Spooky Actions’ from a Simple Thought Experiment

Fred Kuttner, Bruce Rosenblum

Published Jan 22, 2010• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In 1964 John Bell proved a theorem2 allowing the experimental test of whether what Einstein derided as “spooky actions at a distance” actually exist. We will see that they do. Bell's theorem can be displayed with a simple, nonmathematical thought experiment suitable for a physics course at any level. And a simple, semi-classical derivation of the quantum theory result can be given for physics students. These entanglement phenomena are today applied in industrial laboratories and are increasingly discussed in the popular literature. Unfortunately, they are also misappropriated by the purveyors of pseudoscience, something physicists have a responsibility to address.3 Students can be intrigued by the quantum strangeness physics has encountered at a boundary of our discipline.

DOI
10.1119/1.3293664

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In a recent experiment, Salart et al. addressed the important issues of the speed of hypothetical communication and of reference frames in Bell-type experiments. The authors report that they "performed a Bell experiment using entangled photons" and conclude from their experimental results that "to maintain an explanation based on spooky action at a distance we would have to assume that the spooky action propagates at speeds even greater than the bounds obtained in our experiment", exceeding the speed of light by orders of magnitude. Here we show that, analyzing the experimental procedure, explanations with subluminal or even no communication at all exist for the experiment.

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In 1964 John Bell proved a theorem2 allowing the experimental test of whether what Einstein derided as “spooky actions at a distance” actually exist. We will see that they do. Bell's theorem can be displayed with a simple, nonmathematical thought experiment suitable for a physics course at any level. And a simple, semi-classical derivation of the quantum theory result can be given for physics students. These entanglement phenomena are today applied in industrial laboratories and are increasingly discussed in the popular literature. Unfortunately, they are also misappropriated by the purveyors of pseudoscience, something physicists have a responsibility to address.3 Students can be intrigued by the quantum strangeness physics has encountered at a boundary of our discipline.
Spooky Action at a Distance In the context of correlation experiments involving pairs of experiments performed at very nearly the same time in very far-apart experimental regions, Einstein famously said [1], But on one supposition we should in my opinion hold absolutely fast: “The real factual situation of the system S2 is independent of what is done with system S1 which is spatially separated from the former.” This demand is incompatible with the basic ideas of standard (Copenhagen/orthodox) quantum mechanics, which makes two relevant claims: (1) Experimenters in the two labs make “local free choices” that determine which experiments will be performed in their respective labs. These choices are free in the sense of not being predetermined by the prior history of the physically described aspects of the universe, and they are localized in the sense that the physical effects of these free choices are inserted into the physically described aspects of the universe only within the laboratory in which the associated experiment is being performed. (2) These choices of what is done with the system being measured in one lab can (because of a measurement-induced global collapse of the quantum state) influence the outcome of the experiment performed at very close to the same time in the very faraway lab. This influence of what is done with the system being measured in one region upon the outcome appearing at very nearly the same time in a very faraway lab was called “spooky action at a distance” by Einstein, and was rejected by him as a possible feature of “reality.” John Bell's Quasi-classical Statistical Theory Responding to the seeming existence in the quantum world of “spooky actions,” John Bell [2] proposed a possible alternative to the standard approach that might conceivably be able to reconcile quantum spookiness with “reality.” This alternative approach rests on the fact that quantum mechanics is a statistical theory.We already have in physics a statistical theory called “classical statistical mechanics.”
Quantum mechanics makes surprising predictions that defy our classical understanding of the world.Experiments done on entangled particles-particles with linked properties-prove that actions on one particle can affect the other one no matter the distance.In response, physicists came up with local hidden variable theories in an attempt to understand this quantum phenomena through a classical lens.John Bell formulated a way to test whether nature is dictated by local hidden variable theories or quantum mechanics, and since then it has been the goal of numerous physicists to experimentally test the theorem and improve upon the results.This paper describes the history of these experiments, their pros and cons, their advancements, and the potential applications that they will enable.
I feel compelled to respond to the frequent references to spooky action at a distance that often accompany reports of experiments investigating entangled quantum mechanical states. Most, but not all, of these articles have appeared in the popular press. As an experimentalist I have great admiration for such experiments and the concomitant advances in quantum information and quantum computing, but accompanying claims of action at a distance are quite simply nonsense. Some physicists and philosophers of science have bought into the story by promoting the nonlocal nature of quantum mechanics. In 1964, John Bell proved that classical hidden variable theories cannot reproduce the predictions of quantum mechanics unless they employ some type of action at a distance. I have no problem with this conclusion. Unfortunately, Bell later expanded his analysis and mistakenly deduced that quantum mechanics and by implication nature herself are nonlocal. In addition, some of these articles present Einstein in caricature, a tragic figure who neither understood quantum mechanics nor believed it to be an accurate theory of nature. Consequently, the current experiments have proven him wrong. This is also nonsense.
The enigmatic nonlocal quantum correlation that was famously derided by Einstein as "spooky action at a distance" has now been experimentally demonstrated to be authentic. The quantum entanglement and nonlocal correlations emerged as inevitable consequences of John Bell's epochal paper on Bell's inequality. However, in spite of some extraordinary applications as well as attempts to explain the reason for quantum nonlocality, a satisfactory account of how Nature accomplishes this astounding phenomenon is yet to emerge. A cogent mechanism for the occurrence of this incredible event is presented in terms of a plausible quantum mechanical Einstein–Rosen bridge. Quanta 2018; 7: 111–117.
Quantum entanglement is popularly believed to give rise to spooky action at a distance of a kind that Einstein decisively rejected. Indeed, important recent experiments on systems assigned entangled states have been claimed to refute Einstein by exhibiting such spooky action. After reviewing two considerations in favor of this view I argue that quantum theory can be used to explain puzzling correlations correctly predicted by assignment of entangled quantum states with no such instantaneous action at a distance. We owe both considerations in favor of the view to arguments of John Bell. I present simplified forms of these arguments as well as a game that provides insight into the situation. The argument I give in response turns on a prescriptive view of quantum states that differs both from Dirac’s (as stated in Chapter 2) and Einstein’s.
In a recent experiment, Salart et al. addressed the important issues of the speed of hypothetical communication and of reference frames in Bell-type experiments. The authors report that they "performed a Bell experiment using entangled photons" and conclude from their experimental results that "to maintain an explanation based on spooky action at a distance we would have to assume that the spooky action propagates at speeds even greater than the bounds obtained in our experiment", exceeding the speed of light by orders of magnitude. Here we show that, analyzing the experimental procedure, explanations with subluminal or even no communication at all exist for the experiment.