5,721 research outputs found
Variability of fundamental constants
If the fine structure constant is not really constant, is this due to a
variation of , , or ? It is argued that the only reasonable
conclusion is a variable speed of light.Comment: preliminary draft, comments welcom
Nonlocality with less Complementarity
In quantum mechanics, nonlocality (a violation of a Bell inequality) is
intimately linked to complementarity, by which we mean that consistently
assigning values to different observables at the same time is not possible.
Nonlocality can only occur when some of the relevant observables do not
commute, and this noncommutativity makes the observables complementary. Beyond
quantum mechanics, the concept of complementarity can be formalized in several
distinct ways. Here we describe some of these possible formalizations and ask
how they relate to nonlocality. We partially answer this question by describing
two toy theories which display nonlocality and obey the no-signaling principle,
although each of them does not display a certain kind of complementarity. The
first toy theory has the property that it maximally violates the CHSH
inequality, although the corresponding local observables are pairwise jointly
measurable. The second toy theory also maximally violates the CHSH inequality,
although its state space is classical and all measurements are mutually
nondisturbing: if a measurement sequence contains some measurement twice with
any number of other measurements in between, then these two measurements give
the same outcome with certainty.Comment: 6 pages, published versio
Bell's inequality with Dirac particles
We study Bell's inequality using the Bell states constructed from four
component Dirac spinors. Spin operator is related to the Pauli-Lubanski pseudo
vector which is relativistic invariant operator. By using Lorentz
transformation, in both Bell states and spin operator, we obtain an observer
independent Bell's inequality, so that it is maximally violated as long as it
is violated maximally in the rest frame.Comment: 7 pages. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:quant-ph/0308156
by other author
Minimal optimal generalized quantum measurements
Optimal and finite positive operator valued measurements on a finite number
of identically prepared systems have been presented recently. With physical
realization in mind we propose here optimal and minimal generalized quantum
measurements for two-level systems.
We explicitly construct them up to N=7 and verify that they are minimal up to
N=5. We finally propose an expression which gives the size of the minimal
optimal measurements for arbitrary .Comment: 9 pages, Late
Bell's theorem without inequalities and without unspeakable information
A proof of Bell's theorem without inequalities is presented in which distant
local setups do not need to be aligned, since the required perfect correlations
are achieved for any local rotation of the local setups.Comment: REVTeX4, 4 pages, 1 figure; for Asher Peres' Festschrift, to be
published in Found. Phy
Non-Contextual Hidden Variables and Physical Measurements
For a hidden variable theory to be indistinguishable from quantum theory for
finite precision measurements, it is enough that its predictions agree for some
measurement within the range of precision. Meyer has recently pointed out that
the Kochen-Specker theorem, which demonstrates the impossibility of a
deterministic hidden variable description of ideal spin measurements on a spin
1 particle, can thus be effectively nullified if only finite precision
measurements are considered. We generalise this result: it is possible to
ascribe consistent outcomes to a dense subset of the set of projection valued
measurements, or to a dense subset of the set of positive operator valued
measurements, on any finite dimensional system. Hence no Kochen-Specker like
contradiction can rule out hidden variable theories indistinguishable from
quantum theory by finite precision measurements in either class.Comment: Typo corrected. Final version: to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Violations of local realism with quNits up to N=16
Predictions for systems in entangled states cannot be described in local
realistic terms. However, after admixing some noise such a description is
possible. We show that for two quNits (quantum systems described by N
dimensional Hilbert spaces) in a maximally entangled state the minimal
admixture of noise increases monotonically with N. The results are a direct
extension of those of Kaszlikowski et. al., Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 85}, 4418
(2000), where results for were presented. The extension up to N=16 is
possible when one defines for each N a specially chosen set of observables. We
also present results concerning the critical detectors efficiency beyond which
a valid test of local realism for entangled quNits is possible.Comment: 5 pages, 3 ps picture
A variant of Peres-Mermin proof for testing noncontextual realist models
For any state in four-dimensional system, the quantum violation of an
inequality based on the Peres-Mermin proof for testing noncontextual realist
models has experimentally been corroborated. In the Peres-Mermin proof, an
array of nine holistic observables for two two-qubit system was used. We, in
this letter, present a new symmetric set of observables for the same system
which also provides a contradiction of quantum mechanics with noncontextual
realist models in a state-independent way. The whole argument can also be cast
in the form of a new inequality that can be empirically tested.Comment: 3 pages, To be published in Euro. Phys. Let
Speakable in Quantum Mechanics
At the 1927 Como conference Bohr spoke the now famous words "It is wrong to
think that the task of physics is to find out how nature is. Physics concerns
what we can say about nature." However, if the Copenhagen interpretation really
holds on to this motto, why then is there this feeling of conflict when
comparing it with realist interpretations? Surely what one can say about nature
should in a certain sense be interpretation independent. In this paper I take
Bohr's motto seriously and develop a quantum logic that avoids assuming any
form of realism as much as possible. To illustrate the non-triviality of this
motto a similar result is first derived for classical mechanics. It turns out
that the logic for classical mechanics is a special case of the derived quantum
logic. Finally, some hints are provided in how these logics are to be used in
practical situations and I discuss how some realist interpretations relate to
these logics
Optimal generalized quantum measurements for arbitrary spin systems
Positive operator valued measurements on a finite number of N identically
prepared systems of arbitrary spin J are discussed. Pure states are
characterized in terms of Bloch-like vectors restricted by a SU(2 J+1)
covariant constraint. This representation allows for a simple description of
the equations to be fulfilled by optimal measurements. We explicitly find the
minimal POVM for the N=2 case, a rigorous bound for N=3 and set up the analysis
for arbitrary N.Comment: LateX, 12 page
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