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arXiv:quant-ph/0405100 · Physical Review A

Bell’s inequality violation with non-negative Wigner functions

M. Revzen, Pier A. Mello, A. Mann, Lars M. Johansen

Published Feb 10, 2005• 59 citations
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Abstract

A Bell inequality violation allowed by the two-mode squeezed state, whose Wigner function is nonnegative, is shown to hold only for correlations among dynamical variables that cannot be interpreted via a local hidden variable theory. Explicit calculations and interpretation are given for Bell's suggestion that the EPR (Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen) state will not allow violation of Bell's inequality, in conjunction with its Wigner representative being nonnegative. It is argued that Bell's theorem disallowing the violation of Bell's inequality within a local hidden-variable theory depends on the dynamical variables having a definite value---assigned by the local hidden variables---even when they cannot be simultaneously measured. The analysis leads us to conclude that Bell's inequality violation is to be associated with endowing these definite values to the dynamical variables, and not with their locality attributes.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.71.022103

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A Bell inequality violation allowed by the two-mode squeezed state, whose Wigner function is nonnegative, is shown to hold only for correlations among dynamical variables that cannot be interpreted via a local hidden variable theory. Explicit calculations and interpretation are given for Bell's suggestion that the EPR (Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen) state will not allow violation of Bell's inequality, in conjunction with its Wigner representative being nonnegative. It is argued that Bell's theorem disallowing the violation of Bell's inequality within a local hidden-variable theory depends on the dynamical variables having a definite value---assigned by the local hidden variables---even when they cannot be simultaneously measured. The analysis leads us to conclude that Bell's inequality violation is to be associated with endowing these definite values to the dynamical variables, and not with their locality attributes.
Cooperative multiparticle quantum states in an Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen type of experiment are shown to violate a Bell inequality. Thus correlations can occur between wave packets each having NNN bosons which cannot be explained within local hidden-variable theories. This provides a way to test quantum measurement theory for multiparticle states. In these states, a local, positive probability distribution exists for all NNN. However, the representation of correlations with this probability distribution is different from that in standard (Bell-type) hidden-variable theories.
Most physicists agree that the Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen–Bell paradox exemplifies much of the strange behavior of quantum mechanics, but argument persists about what assumptions underlie the paradox. To clarify what the debate is about, we employ a simple and well-known thought experiment involving two correlated photons to help us focus on the logical assumptions needed to construct the EPR and Bell arguments. The view presented in this paper is that the minimal assumptions behind Bell’s inequality are locality and counterfactual definiteness but not scientific realism, determinism, or hidden variables as are often suggested. We further examine the resulting constraints on physical theory with an illustration from the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics—an interpretation that we argue is deterministic, local, and realist but that nonetheless violates the Bell inequality.
By implicitly assuming that all possible Bell-measurements occur simultaneously, all proofs of Bell's Theorem violate Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. This assumption is made in the original form of Bell's inequality, in Wigner's probability inequalities, and in the ``nonlocality without inequalities'' arguments. The introduction of time into derivations of these variants of Bell's theorem results in extra terms related to the time order of the measurements used in constructing correlation coefficients. Since the same locality assumptions are made in the Heisenberg-compliant derivations of this paper, only time-independent classical local hidden variable theories are forbidden by violations of the original Bell inequalities; time-dependent quantum local hidden variable theories can satisfy this new bound and agree with experiment. We further point out that factorizable wavefunctions have been used to describe some EPR experiments and can be used to describe others. These will generate local de Broglie-Bohm trajectories in the description of the data. This second, independent, line of argument also shows that violation of Bell's inequality is only evidence that Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle cannot be ignored.
EPR showed that two particles emitted from a source can be entangled by a shared wavefunction where two non-commuting observables (position, momentum) can be simultaneously real, leading to a contradiction with quantum mechanics (two non-commuting variables can not be simultaneously real). John Bell derived an inequality where any local hidden variables prediction is bounded and quantum mechanics can violate the inequality. Bell tests on correlated photon pairs showed a clear violation of the Bell inequality and agreement with quantum mechanics. This study revealed that the Bell inequality holds at any individual instances in a given system but it does not hold over the entire population. The Bell inequality is not an incompatibility criterion for local hidden variables vs quantum mechanics rather it is a criterion for an individual nature vs population dynamics. The nonlocality prediction given by wavefunction is a system approximation and local causality (photon polarization) provides a complete description of the Bell tests. The paper concludes with great satisfaction that the measurement of two correlated photons at a distance was a local cause (photon-filter interaction did not violate the special theory of relativity).
Bell’s inequality is an empirical constraint on theories with hidden variables, which Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen argued are needed to explain observed perfect correlations if keeping locality. One way to deal with the empirical violation of Bell’s inequality is by openly embracing nonlocality, in a theory like the pilot-wave theory. Nonetheless, recent proposals have revived the possibility that one can avoid nonlocality by resorting to superdeterministic theories. These are local hidden variables theories which violate statistical independence which is one assumption of Bell’s inequality. In this paper I compare and contrast these two hidden variable strategies: the pilot-wave theory and superdeterminism. I show that even if the former is nonlocal and the other is not, both are contextual. Nonetheless, in contrast with the pilot-wave theory, superdeterminist contextuality makes it impossible to test the theory (which therefore becomes unfalsifiable and unconfirmable) and renders the theory uninformative (measurement results tell us nothing about the system). It is questionable therefore whether a theory with these features is worth its costs.
By implicitly assuming that all measurements occur simultaneously, Bell's Theorem only applied to local theories that violated Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. By explicitly introducing time into our derivation of Bell's theorem, an extra term related to the time-ordering of actual measurements is found to augment (i.e. weaken) the upper bound of the inequality. Since the same locality assumptions hold for this rederivation as for the original, we conclude that only {\em classical} measurement-order independent local hidden variable theories are constrained by Bell's inequality; time dependent, non-classical local theories (i.e. theories respecting Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle) can satisfy this new bound while exceeding Bell's limit. Unconditional nonlocality is only expected to occur with Bell parameters between 222\sqrt{2}22​ and 4. This weakening of Bell's inequality is seen for the quantum Bell operator (squared) as an extra term involving the commutators of {\em local} measurement operators. We note that a factorizable second-quantized wavefunction can reproduce experimental measurements; because such wavefunctions allow local de Broglie-Bohm hidden variable modelling, we have another indication that violation of {\em Bell's} inequality does not require an acceptance of non-locality.