Experiments with Entangled Photons Bell Inequalities, Non-local Games and Bound Entanglement

University dissertation from Stockholm : Department of Physics, Stockholm University

Abstract: Quantum mechanics is undoubtedly a weird field of science, which violates many deep conceptual tenets of classical physics, requiring reconsideration of the concepts on which classical physics is based. For instance, it permits persistent correlations between classically separated systems, that are termed as entanglement. To circumvent these problems and explain entanglement, hidden variables theories--based on undiscovered parameters--have been devised. However, John S. Bell and others invented inequalities that can distinguish between the predictions of local hidden variable (LHV) theories and quantum mechanics. The CHSH-inequality (formulated by J. Clauser, M. Horne, A. Shimony and R. A. Holt), is one of the most famous among these inequalities. In the present work, we found that this inequality actually contains an even simpler logical structure, which can itself be described by an inequality and will be violated by quantum mechanics. We found 3 simpler inequalities and were able to violate them experimentally.Furthermore, the CHSH inequality can be used to devise games that can outperform classical strategies. We explore CHSH-games for biased and unbiased cases and present their experimental realizations. We also found a remarkable application of CHSH-games in real life, namely in the card game of duplicate Bridge.  In this thesis, we have described this application along with its experimental realization. Moreover, non-local games with quantum inputs can be used to certify entanglement in a measurement device independent manner. We implemented this method and detected entanglement in a set of two-photon Werner states. Our results are in good agreement with theory.A peculiar form of entanglement that is not distillable through local operations and classical communication (LOCC) is known as bound entanglement (BE). In the present work, we produced and studied BE in four-partite Smolin states and present an experimental violation of a Bell inequality by such states. Moreover we produced a three-qubit BE state, which is also the first experimental realization of a tripartite BE state. We also present its activation, where we experimentally demonstrate super additivity of quantum information resources.

  CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE DISSERTATION. (in PDF format)