Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Physical Review Letters

Ladder Proof of Nonlocality without Inequalities: Theoretical and Experimental Results

D. Boschi, S. Branca, F. De Martini, Lucién Hardy

Published Oct 13, 1997• 170 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We show how a previous demonstration of nonlocality without inequalities for two spin-half particles can be improved so that a greater proportion of the pairs are shown to be subject to a contradiction with local realism. This is achieved by considering more settings of the apparatus at each end. Also, we report on an experimental realization employing a tunable source of polarization entangled photons. The experimental results violate locality (modulo, the efficiency loophole).

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.79.2755

Related papers

Ladder proof of nonlocality for two spin-half particles revisited

Jose Luis Cereceda

In this paper we extend the ladder proof of nonlocality without inequalities for two spin-half particles given by Boschi et al (Boschi D et al 1997 Phys. Rev. Lett. 79 2755) to the case in which the measurement settings of the apparatus measuring one of the particles are different from the measurement settings of the apparatus measuring the other particle. It is shown that, in any case, the proportion of particle pairs for which the contradiction with local realism goes through is maximized when the measurement settings are the same for each apparatus. Also we write down a Bell inequality for the experiment in question which is violated by quantum mechanics by an amount which is twice as much as the amount by which quantum mechanics violates the Bell inequality considered in the above paper by Boschi et al .

arXiv:quant-ph/0206015•Journal of Physics A Mathematical and General•Oct 15, 2002•1 citation

Nonlocality tests of Bell Inequalities and of Hardy's "ladder theorem" without "supplementary assumptions"

Marco Barbieri, F. De Martini, G. Di Nepi +1 more

We have experimentally tested the non local properties of the states generated by a high brilliance source of entanglement which virtually allows the direct measurement of the full set of photon pairs created by the basic QED process implied by the parametric quantum scattering. Standard Bell measurements and Bell's inequality violation test have been realized over the entire cone of emission of the degenerate pairs. By the same source we have verified the Hardy's ladder theory up to the 20th step and the contradiction between the standard quantum theory and the local realism has been tested for 41% of entangled pairs. PACS: 03.65.Ud, 03.67.Mn, 42.65.Lm

arXiv:quant-ph/0406156•Jun 22, 2004•0 citations

Advanced tests of nonlocality with entangled photons

Bradley Christensen

"In 1935, Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen questioned whether quantum mechanics can be complete, as it seemingly does not adhere to a natural view of reality: local realism, which is the notion that an event can only be influenced by events in the past lightcone, and can only influence events in the future lightcone. This question sparked a philosophical debate that lasted for three decades, until John Bell demonstrated that not only are quantum mechanics and local realism philosophically incompatible, but they predict different statistical results for an appropriate set of measurements on entangled particles, which changed the debate to a scientific discussion. Since then, Bell inequality violations have occurred in a plethora of systems, hinting that local realism is indeed wrong. However, every experiment had imperfections that complicated the interpretation --- the experiments had so-called ""loopholes"" which allowed local realism to persist. In this manuscript, we present our work in using optimized sources of entangled photons to perform the long-sought loophole-free Bell test. This landmark experiment invalidates local realism to the best that science will allow. Beyond answering questions on reality, these Bell tests have a important application in generating provably-secure private random numbers, which then can be used as a seed for cryptographic applications. Not only do we demonstrate that nonlocality must exist, but we begin an experimental exploration in an attempt to understand and quantify this nonlocality. We do so by considering all theories that obey no-signaling (or relativistic causality). In our experiments, we observe the counter-intuitive feature of measuring more nonlocality with less entangled states. We also place a bound on the predictive power of any theory that obeys relativistic causality. And finally, we are able to measure quantum correlations only attainable through complex qubits. This work merely begins to probe the quantum boundary, beginning a journey that may someday find evidence of a beyond-quantum theory."

•Apr 14, 2016•0 citations

A significant-loophole-free test of Bell's theorem with entangled photons

Waldimar Amaya, Lynden K. Shalm, Sae Woo Nam +18 more

John Bell’s theorem of 1964 states that local elements of physical reality, existing independent of measurement, are inconsistent with the predictions of quantum mechanics (Bell, J. S. (1964), Physics (College. Park. Md). Specifically, correlations between measurement results from distant entangled systems would be smaller than predicted by quantum physics. This is expressed in Bell’s inequalities. Employing modifications of Bell’s inequalities, many experiments have been performed that convincingly support the quantum predictions. Yet, all experiments rely on assumptions, which provide loopholes for a local realist explanation of the measurement. Here we report an experiment with polarization-entangled photons that simultaneously closes the most significant of these loopholes. We use a highly efficient source of entangled photons, distributed these over a distance of 58.5 meters, and implemented rapid random setting generation and high-efficiency detection to observe a violation of a Bell inequality with high statistical significance. The merely statistical probability of our results to occur under local realism is less than 3.74×10-31, corresponding to an 11.5 standard deviation effect.

•Oct 5, 2017•7 citations

sComment on 'Local-realism violations in two-particle interferometry'

Jose Luis Cereceda

In a recent article [Phys. Rev. A 53, R1927 (1996)] Wu et al. give a proof of nonlocality for the maximally entangled state of two particles without using inequalities. Here we point out that in order for their argument to go through it is necessary to consider a minimum total of six dimensions in Hilbert space. Indeed, the above argument is found to fail whenever the dimensionality of the product Hilbert space is reduced to four. The explanation for this failure is provided by the fact according to which no direct contradiction between the quantum-mechanical and locally realistic predictions can arise for any fraction of an ensemble of 2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2 systems configured in the maximally entangled state.

Physical Review A•May 1, 1997•2 citations

Another loophole for the Bell inequalities

Karl Otto Greulich

Detecting non-locality requires almost ideal experimental conditions - ideal sources for entangled photon pairs and ideal detectors. Deviations from this ideal situation may critically hamper interpretations of experiments attempting to prove non-locality. Of two major known loopholes, the detector loophole is not yet unequivocally closed. Now another loophole emerges: When in such experiments down converting crystals with lasers as primary sources are used, exceeding threshold values in the Bell inequalities, i.e. their violation, can be caused by so far not fully recognized problems in the generation and detection of photon pairs. Taken together, nonlocality is still not yet unequivocally proven.

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE•Aug 20, 2009•1 citation
We show how a previous demonstration of nonlocality without inequalities for two spin-half particles can be improved so that a greater proportion of the pairs are shown to be subject to a contradiction with local realism. This is achieved by considering more settings of the apparatus at each end. Also, we report on an experimental realization employing a tunable source of polarization entangled photons. The experimental results violate locality (modulo, the efficiency loophole).
In this paper we extend the ladder proof of nonlocality without inequalities for two spin-half particles given by Boschi et al (Boschi D et al 1997 Phys. Rev. Lett. 79 2755) to the case in which the measurement settings of the apparatus measuring one of the particles are different from the measurement settings of the apparatus measuring the other particle. It is shown that, in any case, the proportion of particle pairs for which the contradiction with local realism goes through is maximized when the measurement settings are the same for each apparatus. Also we write down a Bell inequality for the experiment in question which is violated by quantum mechanics by an amount which is twice as much as the amount by which quantum mechanics violates the Bell inequality considered in the above paper by Boschi et al .
We have experimentally tested the non local properties of the states generated by a high brilliance source of entanglement which virtually allows the direct measurement of the full set of photon pairs created by the basic QED process implied by the parametric quantum scattering. Standard Bell measurements and Bell's inequality violation test have been realized over the entire cone of emission of the degenerate pairs. By the same source we have verified the Hardy's ladder theory up to the 20th step and the contradiction between the standard quantum theory and the local realism has been tested for 41% of entangled pairs. PACS: 03.65.Ud, 03.67.Mn, 42.65.Lm
"In 1935, Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen questioned whether quantum mechanics can be complete, as it seemingly does not adhere to a natural view of reality: local realism, which is the notion that an event can only be influenced by events in the past lightcone, and can only influence events in the future lightcone. This question sparked a philosophical debate that lasted for three decades, until John Bell demonstrated that not only are quantum mechanics and local realism philosophically incompatible, but they predict different statistical results for an appropriate set of measurements on entangled particles, which changed the debate to a scientific discussion. Since then, Bell inequality violations have occurred in a plethora of systems, hinting that local realism is indeed wrong. However, every experiment had imperfections that complicated the interpretation --- the experiments had so-called ""loopholes"" which allowed local realism to persist. In this manuscript, we present our work in using optimized sources of entangled photons to perform the long-sought loophole-free Bell test. This landmark experiment invalidates local realism to the best that science will allow. Beyond answering questions on reality, these Bell tests have a important application in generating provably-secure private random numbers, which then can be used as a seed for cryptographic applications. Not only do we demonstrate that nonlocality must exist, but we begin an experimental exploration in an attempt to understand and quantify this nonlocality. We do so by considering all theories that obey no-signaling (or relativistic causality). In our experiments, we observe the counter-intuitive feature of measuring more nonlocality with less entangled states. We also place a bound on the predictive power of any theory that obeys relativistic causality. And finally, we are able to measure quantum correlations only attainable through complex qubits. This work merely begins to probe the quantum boundary, beginning a journey that may someday find evidence of a beyond-quantum theory."
John Bell’s theorem of 1964 states that local elements of physical reality, existing independent of measurement, are inconsistent with the predictions of quantum mechanics (Bell, J. S. (1964), Physics (College. Park. Md). Specifically, correlations between measurement results from distant entangled systems would be smaller than predicted by quantum physics. This is expressed in Bell’s inequalities. Employing modifications of Bell’s inequalities, many experiments have been performed that convincingly support the quantum predictions. Yet, all experiments rely on assumptions, which provide loopholes for a local realist explanation of the measurement. Here we report an experiment with polarization-entangled photons that simultaneously closes the most significant of these loopholes. We use a highly efficient source of entangled photons, distributed these over a distance of 58.5 meters, and implemented rapid random setting generation and high-efficiency detection to observe a violation of a Bell inequality with high statistical significance. The merely statistical probability of our results to occur under local realism is less than 3.74×10-31, corresponding to an 11.5 standard deviation effect.
In a recent article [Phys. Rev. A 53, R1927 (1996)] Wu et al. give a proof of nonlocality for the maximally entangled state of two particles without using inequalities. Here we point out that in order for their argument to go through it is necessary to consider a minimum total of six dimensions in Hilbert space. Indeed, the above argument is found to fail whenever the dimensionality of the product Hilbert space is reduced to four. The explanation for this failure is provided by the fact according to which no direct contradiction between the quantum-mechanical and locally realistic predictions can arise for any fraction of an ensemble of 2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2 systems configured in the maximally entangled state.
Detecting non-locality requires almost ideal experimental conditions - ideal sources for entangled photon pairs and ideal detectors. Deviations from this ideal situation may critically hamper interpretations of experiments attempting to prove non-locality. Of two major known loopholes, the detector loophole is not yet unequivocally closed. Now another loophole emerges: When in such experiments down converting crystals with lasers as primary sources are used, exceeding threshold values in the Bell inequalities, i.e. their violation, can be caused by so far not fully recognized problems in the generation and detection of photon pairs. Taken together, nonlocality is still not yet unequivocally proven.