English

Detection-loophole-free nonlocality in the simplest scenario

Quantum Physics 2026-01-08 v1

Abstract

Loophole-free quantum nonlocality often demands experiments with high complexity (defined by all parties' settings and outcomes) and multiple efficient detectors. Here, we identify the fundamental efficiency and complexity thresholds for quantum steering using two-qubit entangled states. Remarkably, it requires only one photon detector on the untrusted side, with efficiency ϵ>1/X\epsilon > 1/X, where X2X \geq 2 is the number of settings on that side. This threshold applies to all pure entangled states, in contrast to analogous Bell-nonlocality tests, which require almost unentangled states to be loss-tolerant. We confirm these predictions in a minimal-complexity (X=2X = 2 for the untrusted party and a single three-outcome measurement for the trusted party), detection-loophole-free photonic experiment with ϵ=(51.6±0.4)%\epsilon = (51.6 \pm 0.4)\% .

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2601.03817,
  title  = {Detection-loophole-free nonlocality in the simplest scenario},
  author = {Nandana T Raveendranath and Travis J. Baker and Emanuele Polino and Marwan Haddara and Lynden K. Shalm and Varun B. Verma and Geoff J. Pryde and Sergei Slussarenko and Howard M. Wiseman and Nora Tischler},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.03817},
  year   = {2026}
}