Kwek, Leong Chuan

We perform numerical tests on quantum nonlocality of two-level quantum systems (qubits) observed by a uniformly moving observer. Under a suitable momentum setting, the quantum nonlocality of two-qubit nonmaximally entangled states could be weakened drastically by the Lorentz transformation allowing for the existence of local-hidden-variable models, whereas three-qubit genuinely entangled states are robust. In particular, the generalized GHZ state remains nonlocal under arbitrary Wigner rotation and the generalized W state could admit local-hidden- variable models within a rather narrow range of parameters.

The quantum predictions for a single nonrelativistic spin-1/2 particle can be reproduced by noncontextual hidden variables. Here we show that quantum contextuality for a relativistic electron moving in a Coulomb potential naturally emerges if relativistic effects are taken into account. The contextuality can be identified through the violation of noncontextuality inequalities. We also discuss quantum contextuality for the free Dirac electron as well as the relativistic Dirac oscillator.

We study the relation between the maximal violation of Svetlichny’s inequality and the mixedness of quantum states and obtain the optimal state (i.e., maximally nonlocal mixed states, or MNMS, for each value of linear entropy) to beat the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt and the Svetlichny games. For the two-qubit and three-qubit MNMS, we showed that these states are also the most tolerant state against white noise, and thus serve as valuable quantum resources for such games. In particular, the quantum prediction of the MNMS decreases as the linear entropy increases, and then ceases to be nonlocal when the linear entropy reaches the critical points 2/3 and 9/14 for the two- and three-qubit cases, respectively. The MNMS are related to classical errors in experimental preparation of maximally entangled states.

We demonstrate here that for a given mixed multi-qubit state if there are at least two observers for whom mutual Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering is possible, i.e. each observer is able to steer the other qubits into two different pure states by spontaneous collapses due to von Neumann type measurements on his/her qubit, then nonexistence of local realistic models is fully equivalent to quantum entanglement (this is not so without this condition). This result leads to an enhanced version of Gisin’s theorem (originally: all pure entangled states violate local realism). Local realism is violated by all mixed states with the above steering property. The new class of states allows one e.g. to perform three party secret sharing with just pairs of entangled qubits, instead of three qubit entanglements (which are currently available with low fidelity). This significantly increases the feasibility of having high performance versions of such protocols. Finally, we discuss some possible applications.

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen steering is a form of quantum nonlocality intermediate between entanglement and Bell nonlocality. Although Schro¨dinger already mooted the idea in 1935, steering still defies a complete understanding. In analogy to ‘‘all-versus-nothing’’ proofs of Bell nonlocality, here we present a proof of steering without inequalities rendering the detection of correlations leading to a violation of steering inequalities unnecessary. We show that, given any two-qubit entangled state, the existence of certain projective measurement by Alice so that Bob’s normalized conditional states can be regarded as two different pure states provides a criterion for Alice-to-Bob steerability. Asteering inequality equivalent to the all-versus-nothing proof is also obtained. Our result clearly demonstrates that there exist many quantum states which do not violate any previously known steering inequality but are indeed steerable. Our method offers advantages over the existing methods for experimentally testing steerability, and sheds new light on the asymmetric steering problem.

Hardy’s proof is considered the simplest proof of nonlocality. Here we introduce an equally simple proof that (i) has Hardy’s as a particular case, (ii) shows that the probability of nonlocal events grows with the dimension of the local systems, and (iii) is always equivalent to the violation of a tight Bell inequality. Our proof has all the features of Hardy’s and adds the only ingredient of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen scenario missing in Hardy’s proof: It applies to measurements with an arbitrarily large number of outcomes.