No Arabic abstract
The Leggett-Garg inequality attempts to classify experimental outcomes as arising from one of two possible classes of physical theories: those described by macrorealism (which obey our intuition about how the macroscopic classical world behaves), and those that are not (e.g., quantum theory). The development of cloud-based quantum computing devices enables us to explore the limits of macrorealism in new regimes. In particular, here we take advantage of the properties of the programmable nature of the IBM quantum experience to observe the violation of the Leggett-Garg inequality (in the form of a ``quantum witness) as a function of the number of constituent systems (qubits), while simultaneously maximizing the `disconnectivity, a potential measure of macroscopicity, between constituents. Our results show that two-qubit and four-qubit ``cat states (which have large disconnectivity) are seen to violate the inequality, and hence can be classified as nonmacrorealistic. In contrast, a six-qubit cat state does not violate the ``quantum-witness beyond a so-called clumsy invasive-measurement bound, and thus is compatible with ``clumsy macrorealism. As a comparison, we also consider un-entangled product states with n = 2, 3, 4, and 6 qubits, in which the disconnectivity is low.
In this paper we describe a test of Bell inequalities using a non- maximally entangled state, which represents an important step in the direction of eliminating the detection loophole. The experiment is based on the creation of a polarisation entangled state via the superposition, by use of an appropriate optics, of the spontaneous fluorescence emitted by two non-linear crystals driven by the same pumping laser.
Most working scientists hold fast to the concept of realism - a viewpoint according to which an external reality exists independent of observation. But quantum physics has shattered some of our cornerstone beliefs. According to Bells theorem, any theory that is based on the joint assumption of realism and locality (meaning that local events cannot be affected by actions in space-like separated regions) is at variance with certain quantum predictions. Experiments with entangled pairs of particles have amply confirmed these quantum predictions, thus rendering local realistic theories untenable. Maintaining realism as a fundamental concept would therefore necessitate the introduction of spooky actions that defy locality. Here we show by both theory and experiment that a broad and rather reasonable class of such non-local realistic theories is incompatible with experimentally observable quantum correlations. In the experiment, we measure previously untested correlations between two entangled photons, and show that these correlations violate an inequality proposed by Leggett for non-local realistic theories. Our result suggests that giving up the concept of locality is not sufficient to be consistent with quantum experiments, unless certain intuitive features of realism are abandoned.
In continuous-variable quantum information, non-Gaussian entangled states that are obtained from Gaussian entangled states via photon subtraction are known to contain more entanglement. This makes them better resources for quantum information processing protocols, such as, quantum teleportation. We discuss the teleportation of non-Gaussian, non-classical Schrodinger-cat states of light using two-mode squeezed vacuum light that is made non-Gaussian via subtraction of a photon from each of the two modes. We consider the experimentally realizable cat states produced by subtracting a photon from the single-mode squeezed vacuum state. We discuss two figures of merit for the teleportation process, a) the fidelity, and b) the maximum negativity of the Wigner function at the output. We elucidate how the non-Gaussian entangled resource lowers the requirements on the amount of squeezing necessary to achieve any given fidelity of teleportation, or to achieve negative values of the Wigner function at the output.
The uncertainty relation lies at the heart of quantum theory and behaves as a non-classical constraint on the indeterminacies of incompatible observables in a system. In the literature, many experiments have been devoted to the test of the uncertainty relations which mainly focus on the pure states. Here we present an experimental investigation on the optimal majorization uncertainty for mixed states by means of the coherent light. The polarization states with adjustable mixedness are prepared by the combination of two coherent beams, and we test the majorization uncertainty relation for three incompatible observables using the prepared mixed states. The experimental results show that the direct sum majorization uncertainty relations are tight and optimal for general mixed systems.
We report on a new kind of experimental investigations of the tension between quantum nonlocally and relativity. Entangled photons are sent via an optical fiber network to two villages near Geneva, separated by more than 10 km where they are analyzed by interferometers. The photon pair source is set as precisely as possible in the center so that the two photons arrive at the detectors within a time interval of less than 5 ps (corresponding to a path length difference of less than 1 mm). One detector is set in motion so that both detectors, each in its own inertial reference frame, are first to do the measurement! The data always reproduces the quantum correlations, making it thus more difficult to consider the projection postulate as a compact description of real collapses of the wave-function.