1,126 research outputs found
Bell's Theorem and Nonlinear Systems
For all Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen-type experiments on deterministic systems the
Bell inequality holds, unless non-local interactions exist between certain
parts of the setup. Here we show that in nonlinear systems the Bell inequality
can be violated by non-local effects that are arbitrarily weak. Then we show
that the quantum result of the existing Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen-type
experiments can be reproduced within deterministic models that include
arbitrarily weak non-local effects.Comment: Accepted for publication in Europhysics Letters. 14 pages, no
figures. In the Appendix (not included in the EPL version) the author says
what he really thinks about the subjec
Quantum interference with molecules: The role of internal states
Recent experiments have shown that fullerene and fluorofullerene molecules
can produce interference patterns. These molecules have both rotational and
vibrational degrees of freedom. This leads one to ask whether these internal
motions can play a role in degrading the interference pattern. We study this by
means of a simple model. Our molecule consists of two masses a fixed distance
apart. It scatters from a potential with two or several peaks, thereby
mimicking two or several slit interference. We find that in some parameter
regimes the entanglement between the internal states and the translational
degrees of freedom produced by the potential can decrease the visibility of the
interference pattern. In particular, different internal states correspond to
different outgoing wave vectors, so that if several internal states are
excited, the total interference pattern will be the sum of a number of
patterns, each with a different periodicity. The overall pattern is
consequently smeared out. In the case of two different peaks, the scattering
from the different peaks will excite different internal states so that the path
the molecule takes become entangled with its internal state. This will also
lead to degradation of the interference pattern. How these mechanisms might
lead to the emergence of classical behavior is discussed.Comment: 12 pages, 4 eps figures, quality of figures reduced because of size
restriction
Strict detector-efficiency bounds for n-site Clauser-Horne inequalities
An analysis of detector-efficiency in many-site Clauser-Horne inequalities is
presented, for the case of perfect visibility. It is shown that there is a
violation of the presented n-site Clauser-Horne inequalities if and only if the
efficiency is greater than n/(2n-1). Thus, for a two-site two-setting
experiment there are no quantum-mechanical predictions that violate local
realism unless the efficiency is greater than 2/3. Secondly, there are n-site
experiments for which the quantum-mechanical predictions violate local realism
whenever the efficiency exceeds 1/2.Comment: revtex, 5 pages, 1 figure (typesetting changes only
Multi-Prover Commitments Against Non-Signaling Attacks
We reconsider the concept of multi-prover commitments, as introduced in the
late eighties in the seminal work by Ben-Or et al. As was recently shown by
Cr\'{e}peau et al., the security of known two-prover commitment schemes not
only relies on the explicit assumption that the provers cannot communicate, but
also depends on their information processing capabilities. For instance, there
exist schemes that are secure against classical provers but insecure if the
provers have quantum information processing capabilities, and there are schemes
that resist such quantum attacks but become insecure when considering general
so-called non-signaling provers, which are restricted solely by the requirement
that no communication takes place.
This poses the natural question whether there exists a two-prover commitment
scheme that is secure under the sole assumption that no communication takes
place; no such scheme is known.
In this work, we give strong evidence for a negative answer: we show that any
single-round two-prover commitment scheme can be broken by a non-signaling
attack. Our negative result is as bad as it can get: for any candidate scheme
that is (almost) perfectly hiding, there exists a strategy that allows the
dishonest provers to open a commitment to an arbitrary bit (almost) as
successfully as the honest provers can open an honestly prepared commitment,
i.e., with probability (almost) 1 in case of a perfectly sound scheme. In the
case of multi-round schemes, our impossibility result is restricted to
perfectly hiding schemes.
On the positive side, we show that the impossibility result can be
circumvented by considering three provers instead: there exists a three-prover
commitment scheme that is secure against arbitrary non-signaling attacks
Atomic vapor-based high efficiency optical detectors with photon number resolution
We propose a novel approach to the important fundamental problem of detecting
weak optical fields at the few photon level. The ability to detect with high
efficiency (>99%), and to distinguish the number of photons in a given time
interval is a very challenging technical problem with enormous potential
pay-offs in quantum communications and information processing. Our proposal
diverges from standard solid-state photo-detector technology by employing an
atomic vapor as the active medium, prepared in a specific quantum state using
laser radiation. The absorption of a photon will be aided by a dressing laser,
and the presence or absence of an excited atom will be detected using the
``cycling transition'' approach perfected for ion traps. By first incorporating
an appropriate upconversion scheme, our method can be applied to a wide variety
of optical wavelengths.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
An experimental test of non-local realism
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
Bell's 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.Comment: Minor corrections to the manuscript, the final inequality and all its
conclusions do not change; description of corrections (Corrigendum) added as
new Appendix III; Appendix II replaced by a shorter derivatio
Qubits from Number States and Bell Inequalities for Number Measurements
Bell inequalities for number measurements are derived via the observation
that the bits of the number indexing a number state are proper qubits.
Violations of these inequalities are obtained from the output state of the
nondegenerate optical parametric amplifier.Comment: revtex4, 7 pages, v2: results identical but extended presentation,
v3: published versio
Violation of Bell's Inequalities with a Local Theory of Photons
We use a local theory of photons purely as particles to model the
single-photon experiment proposed by Tan, Walls, and Collett. Like Tan et al.
we are able to derive a violation of Bell's inequalities for photon counts
coincidence measurements. Our local probabilistic theory does not use any
specific quantum mechanical calculations.Comment: LaTeX, 11 pages, one figure (in LaTeX), submitted to Foundations of
Physics Letter
The XFEM with an Explicit-Implicit Crack Description for Hydraulic Fracture Problems
The Extended Finite Element Method (XFEM) approach is applied to the coupled problem of fluid flow, solid deformation, and fracture propagation. The XFEM model description of hydraulic fracture propagation is part of a joint project in which the developed numerical model will be verified against large-scale laboratory experiments. XFEM forms an important basis towards future combination with heat and mass transport simulators and extension to more complex fracture systems. The crack is described implicitly using three level-sets to evaluate enrichment functions. Additionally, an explicit crack representation is used to update the crack during propagation. The level-set functions are computed exactly from the explicit representation. This explicit/implicit representation is applied to a fluid-filled crack in an impermeable, elastic solid and compared to the early-time solution of a plane-strain hydraulic fracture problem with a fluid lag
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