We discuss the possibility of quantum interferences and entanglement of photons which exist at different intervals of time. The corresponding two-photon correlation function is shown to violate Bell’s inequalities.
Progress in multiphoton interferometry allows us now to observe even six-photon interference of a very high contrast. Also, it is possible to observe interference of two photons originating from truly independent sources. Non-classical effects may violate Bell inequalities, or reveal quantum non-separability. Methods of producing non-classical states of few photons, and the detection of entanglement via Bell inequalities, or via nor-separability criteria will be presented. Implications of violations of Bell inequalities will be discussed, with a special stress on over-interpretations of this fact.
Aiming at elucidating similarities and differences between quantum-optics biphoton interference phenomena and the quantum physics of quasi-one-dimensional double-well optically trapped ultracold neutral bosonic or fermionic atoms, we show that the analog of the optical biphoton joint-coincidence spectral correlations, studied with massless noninteracting biphotons emanating from Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Bell-Bohm single-occupancy sources, corresponds to a distinct contribution in the total second-order momentum correlations of the massive, interacting, and time-evolving ultracold atoms. This single-occupancy contribution can be extracted from the total second-order momentum correlation function measured in time-of-flight experiments, which for the trapped atomic system contains, in general, a double-occupancy, NOON component. The dynamics of the two-particle system are modeled by a Hubbard Hamiltonian. The general form of this partial coincidence spectrum is a cosine-square quantum beating dependent on the difference of the momenta of the two particles, while the corresponding coincidence probability proper, familiar from its role in describing the Hong-Ou-Mandel coincidence dip of overlapping photons, results from an integration over the particle momenta. Because the second-order momentum correlations are mirrored in the time-of-flight spectra in space, our theoretical findings provide impetus for time-of-flight experimental protocols for emulating with (massive) ultracold atoms venerable optical interferometries that use two space-time separated and entangled (massless) photons or double-slit optical sources. The implementation of such developments will facilitate testing of fundamental aspects and enable applications of quantum physics with trapped massive ultracold atoms, that is, investigations of nonlocality and violation of Bell inequalities, entanglement, and quantum information science.
We show that it is possible to find maximal violations of the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) Bell inequality using only position measurements on a pair of entangled nonrelativistic free particles. The device settings required in the CHSH inequality are done by choosing one of two times at which position is measured. For different assignments of the “+” outcome to positions, namely, to an interval, to a half-line, or to a periodic set, we determine violations of the inequalities and states where they are attained. These results have consequences for the hidden variable theories of Bohm and Nelson, in which the two-time correlations between distant particle trajectories have a joint distribution, and hence cannot violate any Bell inequality.