Experimental non-classicality of an indivisible quantum system
Abstract
Quantum theory demands that, in contrast to classical physics, not all properties can be simultaneously well defined. The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle is a manifestation of this fact. Another important corollary arises that there can be no joint probability distribution describing the outcomes of all possible measurements, allowing a quantum system to be classically understood. We provide the first experimental evidence that even for a single three-state system, a qutrit, no such classical model can exist that correctly describes the results of a simple set of pairwise compatible measurements. Not only is a single qutrit the simplest system in which such a contradiction is possible, but, even more importantly, the contradiction cannot result from entanglement, because such a system is indivisible, and it does not even allow the concept of entanglement between subsystems.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1106.4481,
title = {Experimental non-classicality of an indivisible quantum system},
author = {Radek Lapkiewicz and Peizhe Li and Christoph Schaeff and Nathan K. Langford and Sven Ramelow and Marcin Wiesniak and Anton Zeilinger},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1106.4481},
year = {2011}
}
Comments
11 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables