A recent experiment yielding results in agreement with quantum theory and violating Bell inequalities was interpreted [Nature 526 (29 Octobert 2015) p. 682 and p. 649] as ruling out any local realistic theory of nature. But quantum theory itself is both local and realistic when properly interpreted using a quantum Hilbert space rather than the classical hidden variables used to derive Bell inequalities. There is no spooky action at a distance in the real world we live in if it is governed by the laws of quantum mechanics.
For more than 80 years, the counterintuitive predictions of quantum theory have stimulated debate about the nature of reality. In his seminal work, John Bell proved that no theory of nature that obeys locality and realism can reproduce all the predictions of quantum theory. Bell showed that in any local realist theory the correlations between distant measurements satisfy an inequality and, moreover, that this inequality can be violated according to quantum theory. This provided a recipe for experimental tests of the fundamental principles underlying the laws of nature. In the past decades, numerous ingenious Bell inequality tests have been reported. However, because of experimental limitations, all experiments to date required additional assumptions to obtain a contradiction with local realism, resulting in loopholes. Here we report on a Bell experiment that is free of any such additional assumption and thus directly tests the principles underlying Bells inequality. We employ an event-ready scheme that enables the generation of high-fidelity entanglement between distant electron spins. Efficient spin readout avoids the fair sampling assumption (detection loophole), while the use of fast random basis selection and readout combined with a spatial separation of 1.3 km ensure the required locality conditions. We perform 245 trials testing the CHSH-Bell inequality $S leq 2$ and find $S = 2.42 pm 0.20$. A null hypothesis test yields a probability of $p = 0.039$ that a local-realist model for space-like separated sites produces data with a violation at least as large as observed, even when allowing for memory in the devices. This result rules out large classes of local realist theories, and paves the way for implementing device-independent quantum-secure communication and randomness certification.
We discuss the problem of finding the most favorable conditions for closing the detection loophole in a test of local realism with a Bell inequality. For a generic non-maximally entangled two-qubit state and two alternative measurement bases we apply Hardys proof of non-locality without inequality and derive an Eberhard-like inequality. For an infinity of non-maximally entangled states we find that it is possible to refute local realism by requiring perfect detection efficiency for only one of the two measurements: the test is free from the detection loophole for any value of the detection efficiency corresponding to the other measurement. The maximum tolerable noise in a loophole-free test is also evaluated.
We propose a feasible optical setup allowing for a loophole-free Bell test with efficient homodyne detection. A non-gaussian entangled state is generated from a two-mode squeezed vacuum by subtracting a single photon from each mode, using beamsplitters and standard low-efficiency single-photon detectors. A Bell violation exceeding 1% is achievable with 6-dB squeezed light and an homodyne efficiency around 95%. A detailed feasibility analysis, based upon the recent generation of single-mode non-gaussian states, confirms that this method opens a promising avenue towards a complete experimental Bell test.
Device-independent (DI) quantum communication will require a loophole-free violation of Bell inequalities. In typical scenarios where line-of-sight between the communicating parties is not available, it is convenient to use energy-time entangled photons due to intrinsic robustness while propagating over optical fibers. Here we show an energy-time Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt Bell inequality violation with two parties separated by 3.7 km over the deployed optical fiber network belonging to the University of Concepcion in Chile. Remarkably, this is the first Bell violation with spatially separated parties that is free of the post-selection loophole, which affected all previous in-field long-distance energy-time experiments. Our work takes a further step towards a fiber-based loophole-free Bell test, which is highly desired for secure quantum communication due to the widespread existing telecommunication infrastructure.
So far, all experimental tests of Bell inequalities which must be satisfied by all local realistic hidden-variable theories and are violated by quantum mechanical predictions have left at least one loophole open. We propose a feasible setup allowing for a loophole-free test of the Bell inequalities. Two electron spin qubits of phosphorus donors in semiconductors in different cavities 300 m apart are entangled through a bright coherent light and postselections using homodyne measurements. The electron spins are then read out randomly and independently by Alice and Bob, respectively, with unity efficiency in less than 0.7$mu$s by using optically induced spin to charge transduction detected by radio-frequency single electron transistor. A violation of Bell inequality larger than 37% and 18% is achievable provided that the detection accuracy is 0.99 and 0.95, respectively.