In Bell experiments, one problem is to achieve high enough photodetection to ensure that there is no possibility of describing the results via a local hidden-variable model. Using the Clauser-Horne inequality and a two-photon nonmaximally entangled state, a photodetection efficiency higher than 0.67 is necessary. Here we discuss atom-photon Bell experiments. We show that, assuming perfect detection efficiency of the atom, it is possible to perform a loophole-free atom-photon Bell experiment whenever the photodetection efficiency exceeds 0.50.
In Bell experiments, one problem is to achieve high enough photodetection to ensure that there is no possibility of describing the results via a local hidden-variable model. Using the Clauser-Horne inequality and a two-photon nonmaximally entangled state, a photodetection efficiency higher than 0.67 is necessary. Here we discuss atom-photon Bell experiments. We show that, assuming perfect detection efficiency of the atom, it is possible to perform a loophole-free atom-photon Bell experiment whenever the photodetection efficiency exceeds 0.50.
Experimental tests of Bell's inequality allow to distinguish quantum mechanics from local hidden variable theories. Such tests are performed by measuring correlations of two entangled particles (e.g. polarization of photons or spins of atoms). In order to constitute conclusive evidence, two conditions have to be satisfied. First, strict separation of the measurement events in the sense of special relativity is required ("locality loophole"). Second, almost all entangled pairs have to be detected (for particles in a maximally entangled state the required detector efficiency is 82.8%), which is hard to achieve experimentally ("detection loophole"). By using the recently demonstrated entanglement between single trapped atoms and single photons it becomes possible to entangle two atoms at a large distance via entanglement swapping. Combining the high detection efficiency achieved with atoms with the space-like separation of the atomic state detection events, both loopholes can be closed within the same experiment. In this paper we present estimations based on current experimental achievements which show that such an experiment is feasible in future.
Experimental tests of Bell's inequality allow to distinguish quantum mechanics from local hidden variable theories. Such tests are performed by measuring correlations of two entangled particles (e.g. polarization of photons or spins of atoms). In order to constitute conclusive evidence, two conditions have to be satisfied. First, strict separation of the measurement events in the sense of special relativity is required ("locality loophole"). Second, almost all entangled pairs have to be detected (for particles in a maximally entangled state the required detector efficiency is 82.8%), which is hard to achieve experimentally ("detection loophole"). By using the recently demonstrated entanglement between single trapped atoms and single photons it becomes possible to entangle two atoms at a large distance via entanglement swapping. Combining the high detection efficiency achieved with atoms with the space-like separation of the atomic state detection events, both loopholes can be closed within the same experiment. In this paper we present estimations based on current experimental achievements which show that such an experiment is feasible in future.
Loophole-free Bell tests for quantum nonlocality and long-distance secure communication require photodetection efficiencies beyond a threshold ${\ensuremath{\eta}}_{\mathrm{crit}}$ that depends on the Bell inequality and the noise affecting the entangled state received by the distant parties. Most calculations of ${\ensuremath{\eta}}_{\mathrm{crit}}$ assume that the noise is random and can be modeled as white noise. However, most sources suffer from colored noise. Indeed, since entangled states are usually created as a superposition of two possible deexcitation paths, a partial distinguishability between the two processes leads to the appearance of colored noise in the generated state. Recently, there was a proposal for a loophole-free Bell test [A. Cabello and F. Sciarrino, Phys. Rev. X 2, 021010 (2012)], where a specific colored noise appears as a consequence of the precertification of the photon's presence through single-photon spontaneous parametric down-conversion. Here we obtain ${\ensuremath{\eta}}_{\mathrm{crit}}$, the optimal quantum states, and the local settings for a loophole-free Bell test as a function of the amount of colored noise. We consider three bipartite Bell inequalities with n dichotomic settings: Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (n=2), I3322 (n=3), and A5 (n=4), both for the case of symmetric efficiencies, corresponding to photon-photon Bell tests, and for the totally asymmetric case, corresponding to atom-photon Bell tests. Remarkably, in all these cases, ${\ensuremath{\eta}}_{\mathrm{crit}}$ is robust against the colored noise. The present analysis can find application in any test of Bell inequalities in which the dominant noise is of the colored type.
The violation of Bell inequalities where both detection and locality loopholes are closed is crucial for device-independent assessments of quantum information. While of a technological nature, the simultaneous closing of both loopholes still remains a challenge. In Teo et al. [Nat. Commun. 4, 2104 (2013)], a realistic setup to produce an atom-photon entangled state that could reach a loophole-free Bell inequality violation within current experimental technology is proposed. Here we improve the analysis of this proposal by giving an analytical treatment that shows that the state proposed in Teo et al. [Nat. Commun. 4, 2104 (2013)] can violate a Bell inequality for arbitrarily low photodectection efficiency, when all other losses are ignored. Moreover, it is also able to violate a Bell inequality considering only atomic and homodyne measurements eliminating the need to consider inefficient photocounting measurements. In this case, the maximum Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt inequality violation achievable is 2.29, and the minimum transmission required for violation is about 68%. Finally, we show that by postselecting on an atomic measurement, one can engineer superpositions of coherent states for various coherent state amplitudes.
Let us imagine an experimentalist, who has maximally entangled photons and wants to violate Bell’s inequality in his laboratory. Among many obstacles he has to overcome, two of them are the most significant. Firstly, he has to avoid exchanging information about the measurement settings between the particles. Secondly, he has to detect particles with a high enough probability, because if the detection efficiency is too low, one can reproduce quantum correlations using a LHV (Local Hidden Variables) model. These two problems are known in the literature, respectively, as the locality loophole [1] and the detection loophole [2, 3]. Fortunately, it is possible to close the locality loophole using photons in the experiment [4, 5, 6, 7, 8]. However, closing the detection loophole is still an object of study. The authors of [9] showed that for the CHSH inequality, the lower bound for detector efficiency needed to close the loophole is 82.8% for maximally entangled states. This bound was lowered to 66.7% by Eberhard [10]. Furthermore, the detector efficiency has been studied for other Bell inequalities [11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16]. In our research, we are trying to answer the following question: If we prepare a Bell experiment and we have two detectors, having different efficiencies both smaller than 100%, which detector should each party receive? And also: Which representation of the chosen Bell inequality should we consider? These are very crucial questions, which arise in laboratories. Hence, we hope that our results will be useful for experimentalists. We focus on the I3322 inequality [17], which is a natural candidate for testing, because of its asymmetry [14, 18]. We consider the case of a post-selection strategy, which consists in rejecting all the rounds in the Bell experiment when one of the detectors does not click. We used numerical optimisation methods to find both the best classical strategy for Alice and Bob and the best detector clicking strategy. Thus, we have found minimal efficiencies of the detectors of Alice and Bob needed to violate I3322. We made the same studies also for symmetric representations of I3322 [19]. Our results show that the minimal efficiencies of Alice and Bob’s detectors of the asymmetric representation of I3322 is lower than in case of the symmetric one [20]. It is work in progress, and we are examining other post-selection methods as well as other Bell inequalities. We want to consider also the case when non-maximally entangled states are used in Bell experiments.
Loophole-free Bell tests for quantum nonlocality and long-distance secure communication require photodetection efficiencies beyond a threshold eta_{crit} that depends on the Bell inequality and the noise affecting the entangled state received by the distant parties. Most calculations of eta_{crit} assume that the noise is random and can be modeled as white noise. However, most sources suffer from colored noise. Indeed, since entangled states are usually created as a superposition of two possible deexcitation paths, a partial distinguishability between the two processes leads to the appearance of colored noise in the generated state. Recently, there was a proposal for a loophole-free Bell test [A. Cabello and F. Sciarrino, Phys. Rev. X 2, 021010 (2012)], where a specific colored noise appears as a consequence of the precertification of the photon's presence through single-photon spontaneous parametric down-conversion. Here we obtain eta_{crit}, the optimal quantum states, and the local settings for a loophole-free Bell test as a function of the amount of colored noise. We consider three bipartite Bell inequalities with n dichotomic settings: Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (n=2), I_{3322} (n=3), and A_5 (n=4), both for the case of symmetric efficiencies, corresponding to photon-photon Bell tests, and for the totally asymmetric case, corresponding to atom-photon Bell tests. Remarkably, in all these cases, eta_{crit} is robust against the colored noise. The present analysis can find application in any test of Bell inequalities in which the dominant noise is of the colored type.