Informationally restricted correlations: a general framework for classical and quantum systems

We introduce new methods and tools to study and characterise classical and quantum correlations emerging from prepare-and-measure experiments with informationally restricted communication. We consider the most general kind of informationally restricted correlations, namely the ones formed when the sender is allowed to prepare statistical mixtures of mixed states, showing that contrary to what happens in Bell nonlocality, mixed states can outperform pure ones. We then leverage these tools to derive device-independent witnesses of the information content of quantum communication, witnesses for different quantum information resources, and demonstrate that these methods can be used to develop a new avenue for semi-device independent random number generators.

Steering Witness and Steering Criterion of Gaussian States

Quantum steering is an important quantum resource, which is intermediate between entanglement and Bell nonlocality. In this paper, we study steering witnesses for Gaussian states in continuous-variable systems. We give a definition of steering witnesses by covariance matrices of Gaussian states, and then obtain a steering criterion by steering witnesses to detect steerability of any (m+n)-mode Gaussian states. In addition, the conditions for two steering witnesses to be comparable and the optimality of steering witnesses are also discussed.

Generalising the Horodecki criterion to nonprojective qubit observables

The Horodecki criterion provides a necessary and sufficient condition for a two-qubit state to be able to manifest Bell nonlocality via violation of the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) inequality. It requires, however, the assumption that suitable projective measurements can be made on each qubit, and is not sufficient for scenarios in which noisy or weak measurements are either desirable or unavoidable. By characterising two-valued qubit observables in terms of strength, bias, and directional parameters, we address such scenarios by providing necessary and sufficient conditions for arbitrary qubit measurements having fixed strengths and relative angles for each observer. In particular, we find the achievable maximal values of the CHSH parameter for unbiased measurements on arbitrary states, and, alternatively, for arbitrary measurements on states with maximally-mixed marginals, and determine the optimal angles in some cases. We also show that for certain ranges of measurement strengths it is only possible to violate the CHSH inequality via biased measurements. Finally, we use the CHSH inequality to obtain a simple necessary condition for the compatibility of two qubit observables.

Bell nonlocality in networks

Bell’s theorem proves that quantum theory is inconsistent with local physical models. It has propelled research in the foundations of quantum theory and quantum information science. As a fundamental feature of quantum theory, it impacts predictions far beyond the traditional scenario of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox. In the last decade, the investigation of nonlocality has moved beyond Bell’s theorem to consider more sophisticated experiments that involve several independent sources that distribute shares of physical systems among many parties in a network. Network scenarios, and the nonlocal correlations that they give rise to, lead to phenomena that have no counterpart in traditional Bell experiments, thus presenting a formidable conceptual and practical challenge. This review discusses the main concepts, methods, results and future challenges in the emerging topic of Bell nonlocality in networks.

On safe post-selection for Bell tests with ideal detectors: Causal diagram approach

Reasoning about Bell nonlocality from the correlations observed in post-selected data is always a matter of concern. This is because conditioning on the outcomes is a source of non-causal correlations, known as a selection bias, rising doubts whether the conclusion concerns the actual causal process or maybe it is just an effect of processing the data. Yet, even in the idealised case without detection inefficiencies, post-selection is an integral part of experimental designs, not least because it is a part of the entanglement generation process itself. In this paper we discuss a broad class of scenarios with post-selection on multiple spatially distributed outcomes. A simple criterion is worked out, called the all-but-one principle, showing when the conclusions about nonlocality from breaking Bell inequalities with post-selected data remain in force. Generality of this result, attained by adopting the high-level diagrammatic tools of causal inference, provides safe grounds for systematic reasoning based on the standard form of multipartite Bell inequalities in a wide array of entanglement generation schemes, without worrying about the dangers of selection bias. In particular, it can be applied to post-selection defined by single-particle events in each detection chanel when the number of particles in the system is conserved.

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Steering for Mixed Entangled Coherent States

By using the Born Markovian master equation, we study the relationship among the Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen (EPR) steering, Bell nonlocality, and quantum entanglement of entangled coherent states (ECSs) under decoherence. We illustrate the dynamical behavior of the three types of correlations for various optical field strength regimes. In general, we find that correlation measurements begin at their maximum and decline over time. We find that quantum steering and nonlocality behave similarly in terms of photon number during dynamics. Furthermore, we discover that ECSs with steerability can violate the Bell inequality, and that not every ECS with Bell nonlocality is steerable. In the current work, without the memory stored in the environment, some of the initial states with maximal values of quantum steering, Bell nonlocality, and entanglement can provide a delayed loss of that value during temporal evolution, which is of interest to the current study.

Self-testing quantum systems of arbitrary local dimension with minimal number of measurements

Bell nonlocality as a resource for device-independent certification schemes has been studied extensively in recent years. The strongest form of device-independent certification is referred to as self-testing, which given a device, certifies the promised quantum state as well as quantum measurements performed on it without any knowledge of the internal workings of the device. In spite of various results on self-testing protocols, it remains a highly nontrivial problem to propose a certification scheme of qudit–qudit entangled states based on violation of a single d-outcome Bell inequality. Here we address this problem and propose a self-testing protocol for the maximally entangled state of any local dimension using the minimum number of measurements possible, i.e., two per subsystem. Our self-testing result can be used to establish unbounded randomness expansion, $${{{\mathrm{log}}}\,}_{2}d$$ log 2 d perfect random bits, while it requires only one random bit to encode the measurement choice.