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Luca Marinatto

Publications and source records attributed to Luca Marinatto.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

A critical analysis of Popper's experiment

An experiment which could decide against the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics has been proposed by K. Popper and, subsequently, it has been criticized by M.J. Collett and R. Loudon. Here we show that both the above mentioned arguments are not correct because they are based on a misuse of basic quantum rules.

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Hardy's proof of nonlocality in the presence of noise

We extend the validity of Hardy's nonlocality without inequalities proof to cover the case of special one-parameter classes of non-pure statistical operators. These mixed states are obtained by mixing the Hardy states with a completely chaotic noise or with a colored noise and they represent a realistic description of imperfect preparation processes of (pure) Hardy states in nonlocality experiments. Within such a framework we are able to exhibit a precise range of values of the parameter measuring the noise affecting the non-optimal preparation of an arbitrary Hardy state, for which it is still possible to put into evidence genuine nonlocal effects. Equivalently, our work exhibits particular classes of bipartite mixed states whose constituents do not admit any local and deterministic hidden variable model reproducing the quantum mechanical predictions.

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Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger argument of nonlocality without inequalities for mixed states

We generalize the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger nonlocality without inequalities argument to cover the case of arbitrary mixed statistical operators associated to three-qubits quantum systems. More precisely, we determine the radius of a ball (in the trace distance topology) surrounding the pure GHZ state and containing arbitrary mixed statistical operators which cannot be described by any local and realistic hidden variable model and which are, as a consequence, noncompletely separable. As a practical application, we focus on certain one-parameter classes of mixed states which are commonly considered in the experimental realization of the original GHZ argument and which result from imperfect preparations of the pure GHZ state. In these cases we determine for which values of the parameter controlling the noise a nonlocality argument can still be exhibited, despite the mixedness of the considered states. Moreover, the effect of the imperfect nature of measurement processes is discussed.

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Hardy's criterion of nonlocality for mixed states

We generalize Hardy's proof of nonlocality to the case of bipartite mixed statistical operators, and we exhibit a necessary condition which has to be satisfied by any given mixed state $σ$ in order that a local and realistic hidden variable model exists which accounts for the quantum mechanical predictions implied by $σ$. Failure of this condition will imply both the impossibility of any local explanation of certain joint probability distributions in terms of hidden variables and the nonseparability of the considered mixed statistical operator. Our result can be also used to determine the maximum amount of noise, arising from imperfect experimental implementations of the original Hardy's proof of nonlocality, in presence of which it is still possible to put into evidence the nonlocal features of certain mixed states.

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Nonlocality without inequalities

We prove that every conceivable hidden variable model reproducing the quantum mechanical predictions of almost any entangled state must necessarily violate Bell's locality condition. The proof does not involve the consideration of any Bell inequality but it rests on simple set theoretic arguments and it works for almost any noncompletely factorizable state vector associated to any number of particles whose Hilbert spaces have arbitrary dimensionality.

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Identical particles and entanglement

We review two general criteria for deciding whether a pure bipartite quantum state describing a system of two identical particles is entangled or not. The first one considers the possibility of attributing a complete set of objective properties to each particle belonging to the composed system, while the second is based both on the consideration of the Slater-Schmidt number of the fermionic and bosonic analog of the Schmidt decomposition and on the evaluation of the von Neumann entropy of the one-particle reduced statistical operators.

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Nonlocality without inequalities for almost all entangled states of any quantum system

It is shown that it is possible to rule out all local and stochastic hidden variable models accounting for the quantum mechanical predictions implied by almost any entangled quantum state vector of any number of particles whose Hilbert spaces have arbitrary dimensions, without resorting to Bell-type inequalities. The present proof makes use of the mathematically precise notion of Bell locality and it involves only simple set theoretic arguments.

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Criteria for the entanglement of composite systems of identical particles

We identify a general criterion for detecting entanglement of pure bipartite quantum states describing a system of two identical particles. Such a criterion is based both on the consideration of the Slater-Schmidt number of the fermionic and bosonic analog of the Schmidt decomposition and on the evaluation of the von Neumann entropy of the one-particle reduced statistical operators.

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Comment on "Bell's Theorem without Inequalities and without Alignments"

In this Comment we show that Cabello's proof of Bell's theorem without inequalities [Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 230403 (2003)] does not exhibit two of the three "remarkable properties" which the proof is claimed to possess. More precisely it is our purpose to show that property (c) of Cabello's proof, stating that ``local observables can be measured by means of tests on individual qubits" is definitely false since it has been obtained by a wrong use of the basic rules of the quantum formalism, while property (b), stating that ``distant local setups do not need to be aligned since the require perfect correlations are achieved for any local rotation of the setups", is also wrong due to the failure of validity of property (c).

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General criterion for the entanglement of two indistinguishable particles

We relate the notion of entanglement for quantum systems composed of two identical constituents to the impossibility of attributing a complete set of properties to both particles. This implies definite constraints on the mathematical form of the state vector associated with the whole system. We then analyze separately the cases of fermion and boson systems, and we show how the consideration of both the Slater-Schmidt number of the fermionic and bosonic analog of the Schmidt decomposition of the global state vector and the von Neumann entropy of the one-particle reduced density operators can supply us with a consistent criterion for detecting entanglement. In particular, the consideration of the von Neumann entropy is particularly useful in deciding whether the correlations of the considered states are simply due to the indistinguishability of the particles involved or are a genuine manifestation of the entanglement. The treatment leads to a full clarification of the subtle aspects of entanglement of two identical constituents which have been a source of embarrassment and of serious misunderstandings in the recent literature.

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Comment on "Bell's Theorem without Inequalities and without Probabilities for Two Observers"

In this Comment we show that Cabello's argument [Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 1911 (2001)] which proves the nonlocal feature of any classical model of quantum mechanics based on Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) criterion of elements of reality, must involve at least four distant observers rather than the two employed by the author. Moreover we raise a remark on the necessity of performing a real experiment confirming Cabello's argument.

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Entanglement and Properties

Various topics concerning the entanglement of composite quantum systems are considered with particular emphasis concerning the strict relations of such a problem with the one of attributing objective properties to the constituents. In particular we will focus our attention to composite quantum systems composed of identical constituents, with the purpose of dealing with subtle issues, which have never been adequately discussed in the literature, originating from the true indistinguishability of the subsystems involved.

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On deciding whether a Boolean function is constant or not

We study the probability of making an error if, by querying an oracle a fixed number of times, we declare constant a randomly chosen n-bit Boolean function. We compare the classical and the quantum case, and we determine for how many oracle-queries k and for how many bits n one querying procedure is more efficient than the other.

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Entanglement and Properties of Composite Quantum Systems: a Conceptual and Mathematical Analysis

Various topics concerning the entanglement of composite quantum systems are considered with particular emphasis concerning the strict relations of such a problem with the one of attributing objective properties to the constituents. Most of the paper deals with composite systems in pure states. After a detailed discussion and a precise formal analysis of the case of systems of distinguishable particles, the problems of entanglement and the one of the properties of subsystems of systems of identical particles are thourougly discussed. This part is the most interesting and new and it focuses various subtle questions which have never been adequately discussed in the literature. Some inappropriate assertions which appeared in recent papers are analyzed. The relations of the main subject of the paper with the nonlocal aspects of quantum mechanics, as well as with the possibility of deriving Bell's inequality are also considered.

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Teleportation with indistinguishable particles

We analyze in a critical way the mathematical treatment of a quantum teleportation experiment performed with photon particles, showing that a symmetrization operation over both the polarization and spatial degrees of freedom of all the particles involved is necessary in order to reproduce correctly the observed experimental data.

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