Nonlocality in many-body quantum systems detected with two-body correlators

Contemporary understanding of correlations in quantum many-body systems and in quantum phase transitions is based to a large extent on the recent intensive studies of entanglement in many-body systems. In contrast, much less is known about the role of quantum nonlocality in these systems, mostly because the available multipartite Bell inequalities involve high-order correlations among many particles, which are hard to access theoretically, and even harder experimentally. Standard, "theorist- and experimentalist-friendly" many-body observables involve correlations among only few (one, two, rarely three...) particles. Typically, there is no multipartite Bell inequality for this scenario based on such low-order correlations. Recently, however, we have succeeded in constructing multipartite Bell inequalities that involve two- and one-body correlations only, and showed how they revealed the nonlocality in many-body systems relevant for nuclear and atomic physics [Science 344, 1256 (2014)]. With the present contribution we continue our work on this problem. On the one hand, we present a detailed derivation of the above Bell inequalities, pertaining to permutation symmetry among the involved parties. On the other hand, we present a couple of new results concerning such Bell inequalities. First, we characterize their tightness. We then discuss maximal quantum violations of these inequalities in the general case, and their scaling with the number of parties. Moreover, we provide new classes of two-body Bell inequalities which reveal nonlocality of the Dicke states---ground states of physically relevant and experimentally realizable Hamiltonians. Finally, we shortly discuss various scenarios for nonlocality detection in mesoscopic systems of trapped ions or atoms, and by atoms trapped in the vicinity of designed nanostructures.Comment: 46 pages (25.2 + appendices), 7 figure

Detecting non-locality in multipartite quantum systems with two-body correlation functions

Bell inequalities define experimentally observable quantities to detect non-locality. In general, they involve correlation functions of all the parties. Unfortunately, these measurements are hard to implement for systems consisting of many constituents, where only few-body correlation functions are accessible. Here we demonstrate that higher-order correlation functions are not necessary to certify nonlocality in multipartite quantum states by constructing Bell inequalities from one- and two-body correlation functions for an arbitrary number of parties. The obtained inequalities are violated by some of the Dicke states, which arise naturally in many-body physics as the ground states of the two-body Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick Hamiltonian.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, 1 tabl

Translationally invariant multipartite Bell inequalities involving only two-body correlators

Bell inequalities are natural tools that allow one to certify the presence of nonlocality in quantum systems. The known constructions of multipartite Bell inequalities contain, however, correlation functions involving all observers, making their experimental implementation difficult. The main purpose of this work is to explore the possibility of witnessing nonlocality in multipartite quantum states from the easiest-to-measure quantities, that is, the two-body correlations. In particular, we determine all three and four-partite Bell inequalities constructed from one and two-body expectation values that obey translational symmetry, and show that they reveal nonlocality in multipartite states. Also, by providing a particular example of a five-partite Bell inequality, we show that nonlocality can be detected from two-body correlators involving only nearest neighbours. Finally, we demonstrate that any translationally invariant Bell inequality can be maximally violated by a translationally invariant state and the same set of observables at all sites. We provide a numerical algorithm allowing one to seek for maximal violation of a translationally invariant Bell inequality.Comment: 21 pages, to be published in the special issue of JPA "50 years of Bell's theorem

Exploring the Local Orthogonality Principle

Nonlocality is arguably one of the most fundamental and counterintuitive aspects of quantum theory. Nonlocal correlations could, however, be even more nonlocal than quantum theory allows, while still complying with basic physical principles such as no-signaling. So why is quantum mechanics not as nonlocal as it could be? Are there other physical or information-theoretic principles which prohibit this? So far, the proposed answers to this question have been only partially successful, partly because they are lacking genuinely multipartite formulations. In Nat. Comm. 4, 2263 (2013) we introduced the principle of Local Orthogonality (LO), an intrinsically multipartite principle which is satisfied by quantum mechanics but is violated by non-physical correlations. Here we further explore the LO principle, presenting new results and explaining some of its subtleties. In particular, we show that the set of no-signaling boxes satisfying LO is closed under wirings, present a classification of all LO inequalities in certain scenarios, show that all extremal tripartite boxes with two binary measurements per party violate LO, and explain the connection between LO inequalities and unextendible product bases.Comment: Typos corrected; data files uploade

Qubits entanglement dynamics modified by an effective atomic environment

We study entanglement dynamics of a couple of two-level atoms resonantly interacting with a cavity mode and embedded in a dispersive atomic environment. We show that in the absence of the environment the entanglement reaches its maximum value when only one exitation is involved. Then, we find that the atomic environment modifies that entanglement dynamics and induces a typical collapse-revival structure even for an initial one photon Fock state of the field.Comment: eight pages, two figure include

Diachronous folding and cleavage in an intraplate setting (Central High Atlas, Morocco) determined through the study of remagnetizations

Remagnetizations are common in intraplate basins. When remagnetizations occur at an intermediate stage between different tectonic processes, they can be used for paleo-geometrical reconstructions and relative dating of different structures. This has a particular interest in geological frameworks where other geological time markers are absent. In order to apply this methodology, it is necessary to calculate the regional remagnetization direction and subsequently to use this reference direction to restore the attitude of the beds at the moment of remagnetization acquisition. In this work, we use this methodology for dating a pervasive cleavage (whose time of formation is controversial) and the associated structures in the Central High Atlas (Morocco). Paleomagnetic directions from 64 sites were used to calculate the remagnetization direction (D = 330.9°, I = 35.1°, A/n = 6.107) which is coincident with the Albian-Cenomanian (ca. 100 M.a.) expected direction for NW Africa. This direction was used to restore the Mesozoic paleo-geometry of beds allowing us to analyze bedding orientation, cleavage and folding relationships between the present day and the Cretaceous geometry. After restoration we conclude that the development of cleavage post-dates remagnetization, being in relation with Cenozoic basin inversion. However, the paleo-geometry shows incipient folds at Cretaceous times, which can be related to an intra-Mesozoic compressional event