arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Adan Cabello.
Hardy's proof is considered the simplest proof of nonlocality. Here we introduce an equally simple proof that (i) has Hardy's as a particular case, (ii) shows that the probability of nonlocal events grows with the dimension of the local systems, and (iii) is always equivalent to the violation of a tight Bell inequality.
We describe a construction that maps any connected graph G on three or more vertices into a larger graph, H(G), whose independence number is strictly smaller than its Lovász number which is equal to its fractional packing number. The vertices of H(G) represent all possible events consistent with the stabilizer group of the graph state associated with G, and exclusive events are adjacent. Mathematically, the graph H(G) corresponds to the orbit of G under local complementation. Physically, the construction translates into graph-theoretic terms the connection between a graph state and a Bell inequality maximally violated by quantum mechanics. In the context of zero-error information theory, the construction suggests a protocol achieving the maximum rate of entanglement-assisted capacity, a quantum mechanical analogue of the Shannon capacity, for each H(G). The violation of the Bell inequality is expressed by the one-shot version of this capacity being strictly larger than the independence number. Finally, given the correspondence between graphs and exclusivity structures, we are able to compute the independence number for certain infinite families of graphs with the use of quantum non-locality, therefore highlighting an application of quantum theory in the proof of a purely combinatorial statement.
Bit commitment is a fundamental cryptographic task that guarantees a secure commitment between two mutually mistrustful parties and is a building block for many cryptographic primitives, including coin tossing, zero-knowledge proofs, oblivious transfer and secure two-party computation. Unconditionally secure bit commitment was thought to be impossible until recent theoretical protocols that combine quantum mechanics and relativity were shown to elude previous impossibility proofs. Here we implement such a bit commitment protocol. In the experiment, the committer performs quantum measurements using two quantum key distribution systems and the results are transmitted via free-space optical communication to two agents separated with more than 20 km. The security of the protocol relies on the properties of quantum information and relativity theory. We show that, in each run of the experiment, a bit is successfully committed with less than 5.68*10^-2 cheating probability. Our result demonstrates unconditionally secure bit commitment and the experimental feasibility of relativistic quantum communication.
Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering is a form of quantum nonlocality intermediate between entanglement and Bell nonlocality. Although Schrödinger already mooted the idea in 1935, steering still defies a complete understanding. In analogy to "all-versus-nothing" proofs of Bell nonlocality, here we present a proof of steering without inequalities rendering the detection of correlations leading to a violation of steering inequalities unnecessary. We show that, given any two-qubit entangled state, the existence of certain projective measurement by Alice so that Bob's normalized conditional states can be regarded as two different pure states provides a criterion for Alice-to-Bob steerability. A steering inequality equivalent to the all-versus-nothing proof is also obtained. Our result clearly demonstrates that there exist many quantum states which do not violate any previously known steering inequality but are indeed steerable. Our method offers advantages over the existing methods for experimentally testing steerability, and sheds new light on the asymmetric steering problem.
We show that a recent observation by Yan leads to a method to experimentally test whether a higher-than-quantum violation of the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt Bell inequality is possible (assuming that the sum of probabilities of pairwise exclusive propositions cannot exceed 1). The test requires reaching the maximum quantum violation of a noncontextuality inequality involving sequences of three compatible measurements on a five-dimensional quantum system.
It has been recently conjectured that the state-independency of quantum contextuality may be lost when the indistinguishability of identical particles is taken into account. Here, we show that quantum state-independent contextuality exists for any system of more than one identical bosonic qudits, and for most systems of fermionic qudits. The only exception is the case of d fermionic qudits, since there the dimension of the antisymmetric subspace is 1, which is insufficient for contextuality. For all the other cases, either the symmetry precludes the existence of physical states, or we provide an explicit method to produce quantum state-independent contextual correlations.
Quantum mechanics exhibits a very peculiar form of contextuality. Identifying and connecting the simplest scenarios in which more general theories can or cannot be more contextual than quantum mechanics is a fundamental step in the quest for the principle that singles out quantum contextuality. The former scenario corresponds to the Klyachko-Can-Binicioglu-Shumovsky (KCBS) inequality. Here we show that there is a simple tight inequality, twin to the KCBS, for which quantum contextuality cannot be outperformed. In a sense, this twin inequality is the simplest tool for recognizing fully contextual quantum correlations.
Which is the simplest logical structure for which there is quantum nonlocality? We show that there are only three bipartite Bell inequalities with quantum violation associated with the simplest graph of relationships of exclusivity with a quantum-classical gap. These are the most elementary logical Bell inequalities. We show that the quantum violation of some well-known Bell inequalities is related to them. We test the three Bell inequalities with pairs of polarization-entangled photons and report violations in good agreement with the quantum predictions. Unlike other experiments testing noncontextuality inequalities with pentagonal exclusivity, the ones reported here are free of the compatibility loophole.
The quantum predictions for a single nonrelativistic spin-1/2 particle can be reproduced by noncontextual hidden variables. Here we show that quantum contextuality for a relativistic electron moving in a Coulomb potential naturally emerges if relativistic effects are taken into account. The contextuality can be identified through the violation of noncontextuality inequalities. We also discuss quantum contextuality for the free Dirac electron as well as the relativistic Dirac oscillator.
We show that the maximum quantum violation of the Klyachko-Can-Binicioglu-Shumovsky (KCBS) inequality is exactly the maximum value satisfying the following principle: The sum of probabilities of pairwise exclusive events cannot exceed 1. We call this principle "global exclusivity," since its power shows up when it is applied to global events resulting from enlarged scenarios in which the events in the inequality are considered jointly with other events. We identify scenarios in which this principle singles out quantum contextuality, and show that a recent proof excluding nonlocal boxes follows from the maximum violation imposed by this principle to the KCBS inequality.
The conflict between classical and quantum physics can be identified through a series of yes-no tests on quantum systems, without it being necessary that these systems be in special quantum states. Kochen-Specker (KS) sets of yes-no tests have this property and provide a quantum-versus-classical advantage that is free of the initialization problem that affects some quantum computers. Here, we report the first experimental implementation of a complete KS set that consists of 18 yes-no tests on four-dimensional quantum systems and show how to use the KS set to obtain a state-independent quantum advantage. We first demonstrate the unique power of this KS set for solving a task while avoiding the problem of state initialization. Such a demonstration is done by showing that, for 28 different quantum states encoded in the orbital-angular-momentum and polarization degrees of freedom of single photons, the KS set provides an impossible-to-beat solution. In a second experiment, we generate maximally contextual quantum correlations by performing compatible sequential measurements of the polarization and path of single photons. In this case, state independence is demonstrated for 15 different initial states. Maximum contextuality and state independence follow from the fact that the sequences of measurements project any initial quantum state onto one of the KS set's eigenstates. Our results show that KS sets can be used for quantum-information processing and quantum computation and pave the way for future developments.
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.
We report two fundamental experiments on three-level quantum systems (qutrits). The first one tests the simplest task for which quantum mechanics provides an advantage with respect to classical physics. The quantum advantage is certified by the violation of Wright's inequality, the simplest classical inequality violated by quantum mechanics. In the second experiment, we obtain contextual correlations by sequentially measuring pairs of compatible observables on a qutrit, and show the violation of Klyachko et al.'s inequality, the most fundamental noncontextuality inequality violated by qutrits. Our experiment tests exactly Klyachko et al.'s inequality, uses the same measurement procedure for each observable in every context, and shows that the violation does not depend on the order of the measurements.
In a recent paper, Kurzynski et al. present a gedanken experiment that, they claim, violates the Klyachko-Can-Binicioglu-Shumovsky (KCBS) noncontextuality (NC) inequality beyond its maximum quantum value, and a similar experiment that, they claim, violates Specker's NC inequality, which is not violated by quantum mechanics. We argue that these claims are baseless, since these experiments do not satisfy the conditions required for any observation of contextuality through the experimental violation of a NC inequality. Moreover, the physical events in the experiments of Kurzynski et al. do not have the relationships of exclusivity which the authors assume they have.
I draw attention to the fact that three recently proposed physical principles, namely "local orthogonality", "global exclusive disjunction", and "compatible orthogonality" are not new principles, but different versions of a principle that Ernst Specker noticed long ago. I include a video of Specker stating this principle in 2009 in the following terms: "Do you know what, according to me, is the fundamental theorem of quantum mechanics? (...) That is, if you have several questions and you can answer any two of them, then you can also answer all of them". I overview some results that suggest that Specker's principle may be of fundamental importance for explaining quantum contextuality. Specker passed away in December 10, 2011, at the age of 91.
We show that there is a stronger form of bipartite quantum nonlocality in which systems that never interacted are as nonlocal as allowed by no-signaling. For this purpose, we first show that nonlocal boxes, theoretical objects that violate a bipartite Bell inequality as much as the no-signaling principle allows and which are physically impossible for most scenarios, are feasible if the two parties have 3 measurements with 4 outputs. Then we show that, in this case, entanglement swapping allows us to prepare mixtures of nonlocal boxes using systems that never interacted.
Contextuality is a natural generalization of nonlocality which does not need composite systems or spacelike separation and offers a wider spectrum of interesting phenomena. Most notably, in quantum mechanics there exist scenarios where the contextual behavior is independent of the quantum state. We show that the quest for an optimal inequality separating quantum from classical noncontextual correlations in an state-independent manner admits an exact solution, as it can be formulated as a linear program. We introduce the noncontextuality polytope as a generalization of the locality polytope, and apply our method to identify two different tight optimal inequalities for the most fundamental quantum scenario with state-independent contextuality.
Tight Bell inequalities are facets of Pitowsky's correlation polytope and are usually obtained from its extreme points by solving the hull problem. Here we present an alternative method based on a combination of algebraic results on extensions of measures and variable elimination methods, e.g., the Fourier-Motzkin method. Our method is shown to overcome some of the computational difficulties associated with the hull problem in some non-trivial cases. Moreover, it provides an explanation for the arising of only a finite number of families of Bell inequalities in measurement scenarios where one experimenter can choose between an arbitrary number of different measurements.