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Significant-Loophole-Free Test of Bell’s Theorem with Entangled Photons

Marissa Giustina, Marijn A. M. Versteegh, Sören Wengerowsky, Johannes Handsteiner, Armin Hochrainer, Kevin Phelan, Fabian Steinlechner, Johannes Kofler, Jan-Åke Larsson, Carlos Abellán, Waldimar Amaya, Valerio Pruneri, Morgan W. Mitchell, Jörn Beyer, Thomas Gerrits, Adriana E. Lita, Lynden K. Shalm, Sae Woo Nam, Thomas Scheidl, Rupert Ursin, Bernhard Wittmann, and Anton Zeilinger
Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 250401 – Published 16 December 2015
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Abstract

Local realism is the worldview in which physical properties of objects exist independently of measurement and where physical influences cannot travel faster than the speed of light. Bell’s theorem states that this worldview is incompatible with the predictions of quantum mechanics, as is expressed in Bell’s inequalities. Previous experiments convincingly supported the quantum predictions. Yet, every experiment requires assumptions that provide loopholes for a local realist explanation. Here, we report a Bell test that closes the most significant of these loopholes simultaneously. Using a well-optimized source of entangled photons, rapid setting generation, and highly efficient superconducting detectors, we observe a violation of a Bell inequality with high statistical significance. The purely statistical probability of our results to occur under local realism does not exceed 3.74×1031, corresponding to an 11.5 standard deviation effect.

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  • Received 10 November 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.250401

This article is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Atomic, Molecular & OpticalGeneral Physics

Viewpoint

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Closing the Door on Einstein and Bohr’s Quantum Debate

Published 16 December 2015

By closing two loopholes at once, three experimental tests of Bell’s inequalities remove the last doubts that we should renounce local realism. They also open the door to new quantum information technologies.

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Authors & Affiliations

Marissa Giustina1,2,*, Marijn A. M. Versteegh1,2, Sören Wengerowsky1,2, Johannes Handsteiner1,2, Armin Hochrainer1,2, Kevin Phelan1, Fabian Steinlechner1, Johannes Kofler3, Jan-Åke Larsson4, Carlos Abellán5, Waldimar Amaya5, Valerio Pruneri5,6, Morgan W. Mitchell5,6, Jörn Beyer7, Thomas Gerrits8, Adriana E. Lita8, Lynden K. Shalm8, Sae Woo Nam8, Thomas Scheidl1,2, Rupert Ursin1, Bernhard Wittmann1,2, and Anton Zeilinger1,2,†

  • 1Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI), Austrian Academy of Sciences, Boltzmanngasse 3, Vienna 1090, Austria
  • 2Quantum Optics, Quantum Nanophysics and Quantum Information, Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Boltzmanngasse 5, Vienna 1090, Austria
  • 3Max-Planck-Institute of Quantum Optics, Hans-Kopfermann-Straße 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
  • 4Institutionen för Systemteknik, Linköpings Universitet, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden
  • 5ICFO – Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, 08860 Castelldefels, Barcelona, Spain
  • 6ICREA – Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, 08015 Barcelona, Spain
  • 7Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Abbestraße 1, 10587 Berlin, Germany
  • 8National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 325 Broadway, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA

  • *marissa.giustina@univie.ac.at
  • anton.zeilinger@univie.ac.at

See Also

Strong Loophole-Free Test of Local Realism

Lynden K. Shalm et al.
Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 250402 (2015)

Generation of Fresh and Pure Random Numbers for Loophole-Free Bell Tests

Carlos Abellán, Waldimar Amaya, Daniel Mitrani, Valerio Pruneri, and Morgan W. Mitchell
Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 250403 (2015)

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Vol. 115, Iss. 25 — 18 December 2015

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