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The contradiction between classical and quantum physics can be identified through quantum contextuality, which does not need composite systems or spacelike separation. Contextuality is proven either by a logical contradiction between the noncontextuality hidden variable predictions and those of quantum mechanics or by the violation of noncontextual inequality. We propose an experimental scheme of state-independent contextual inequality derived from the Mermin proof of the Kochen–Specker (KS) theorem in eight-dimensional Hilbert space, which could be observed either in an individual system or in a composite system. We also show how to resolve the compatibility problems. Our scheme can be implemented in optical systems with current experiment techniques.

A recent article in this journal (Eugen Muchowski 2021 EPL 134 10004) presents a counterexample to the Bell theorem by presumably taking into account the contextuality condition that, according to the Kochen-Specker theorem, all hidden variables models of quantum mechanics are required to comply, and which is allegedly overlooked in the formulation of the Bell theorem. We explain why Bell's model of local hidden variables complies with such contextual property and that the presented counterexample is indeed nonlocal. Therefore the proposed model does not constitute a counterexample to the Bell theorem.

An ontological model is termed as maximallyψ-epistemic if the overlap between any two quantum states is fully accounted for by the overlap of their respective probability distributions of ontic states. However, in the literature, there exist two different mathematical definitions (termed here as 1MψE and 2MψE) that capture the equivalent notion of maximalψ-epistemicity. In this work, we provide three theorems to critically examine the connections between preparation non-contextuality and the aforementioned two definitions of maximalψ-epistemicity. In theorem 1, we provide a simple and direct argument of an existing proof to demonstrate that the mixed state preparation non-contextuality implies the first definition of maximalψ-epistemicity. In theorem 2, we prove that the second definition of maximalψ-epistemicity implies pure-state preparation non-contextuality. If both the definitions capture the equivalent notion of maximalψ-epistemicity, then from the aforementioned two theorems one infers that the mixed-state preparation non-contextuality implies pure-state preparation non-contextuality. But, in theorem 3, we demonstrate that the mixed-state preparation non-contextuality in an ontological model implies pure-state contextuality and vice versa. This leads one to conclude that 1MψE and 2MψE capture inequivalent notions of maximalψ-epistemicity. The implications of our results and their connections to other no-go theorems are discussed.

Although `quantum contextuality' is one of the most fundamental non-classical feature, its generic role in information processing and computation is an open quest. In this article, we present a family of distributed computing tasks pertaining to every logical proof of Kochen-Specker (KS) contextuality in two different one-way communication scenarios: (I) communication of bounded dimensional system, (II) communication of unbounded dimensional system while keeping certain information oblivious, namely, oblivious communication (OC). As the later remains largely unexplored, we introduce a general framework for OC tasks and provide a methodology for obtaining an upper bound on the success of OC tasks in classical communication. We show that quantum communication comprised of every KS set of vectors outperforms classical communication and perfectly accomplishes the task in both the aforementioned scenarios. We explicitly discuss the communication tasks pertaining to the simplest state independent contextuality sets of dimension three and four. Our results establish an operational significance to single system contextuality and open up the possibility of semi-device independent quantum information processing based on that. Alongside, we identify any advantage in OC tasks as a witness of preparation contextuality., 10 pages, 7 figures; published version

We clarify the meaning of Bell's theorem and its implications for the construction of hidden variable theories by considering an example system consisting of two entangled spin-1/2 particles. Using this example, we present a simplified version of Bell's theorem and describe several hidden variable theories that agree with the predictions of quantum mechanics. These example theories clarify some subtle points, which are often misunderstood, regarding what it is that Bell's theorem actually establishes.

By analyzing the concept of contextuality (Bell-Kochen-Specker) in terms of pre-and-post-selection (PPS), it is possible to assign definite values to observables in a new and surprising way. Physical reasons are presented for restrictions on these assignments. When measurements are performed which do not disturb the pre- and post-selection (i.e. weak measurements), then novel experimental aspects of contextuality can be demonstrated including a proof that every PPS-paradox with definite predictions implies contextuality. Certain results of these measurements (eccentric weak values with e.g. negative values outside the spectrum), however, cannot be explained by a "classical-like" hidden variable theory., Identical content; stream-lined verbal presentation

The stochastic Clauser–Horne (CH) model of Bell's theorem [1] is considered and by applying the locality condition it is shown that this (local) model, as far as applied to the singlet-state and without using quantum mechanical formalism, is not completely stochastic (i.e. there are possible configurations for which the model is deterministic).

A state-dependent proof of Bell's theorem without inequalities using the product state of any two maximally entangled states (Bell states) of two qubits for two observers in an ideal condition, each of which possesses two qubits, is proposed. It is different from the other proofs in which there exists a fundamental requirement that certain specific suitable Bell states have been chosen. Moreover, in any non-ideal situation, a common Bell inequality independent of the choices of the 16-product states is derived, which is used to test the contradiction between quantum mechanics and local reality theory in the reach of current experimental technology.

I explain in elementary terms why time-dependent effects, including time-correlated hidden variables at the detectors, do not invalidate a simple version of Bell's theorem involving two detectors with 3-pole switches and red and green lights.

The celebrated inequalities of Bell are based on the assumption that local hidden parameters exist. When combined with conflicting experimental results these inequalities appear to prove that local hidden parameters cannot exist. This suggests to many that only instantaneous action at a distance can explain Einstein, Podolsky, Rosen (EPR) type of experiments. We show that Bell-type theories and proofs leading to the well-known inequalities completely exclude a large class of time dependencies in their considerations. Owing to the fact that the electrodynamics of moving bodies cannot be described by time-independent theories or models, we conclude that the Bell theorem cannot describe the physics of EPR experiments. We also show how hidden parameter theories that include time can obtain the quantum result.

The contextuality of quantum mechanics, i.e. the measurement outcome dependence upon previously made measurements, can be shown by the violation of inequalities based on measurements of well chosen observables. An important property of such observables is that their expectation value can be expressed in terms of probabilities of obtaining two exclusive outcomes. In order to satisfy this, inequalities have been constructed using either observables with a dichotomic spectrum or using periodic functions obtained from displacement operators in phase space. Here we identify the general conditions on the spectral decomposition of observables demonstrating state independent contextuality of quantum mechanics. As a consequence, our results not only unify existing strategies for maximal violation of state independent non-contextual inequalities but also lead to new scenarii enabling such violation. Among the consequences of our results is the impossibility of having a state independent maximal violation of non-contextuality in the Peres-Mermin scenario with discrete observables of odd dimensions., Comment: 6 pages

We review and extend recent findings of Godsil and Zaks, who published a constructive colouring of the rational unit sphere with the property that for any orthogonal tripod formed by rays extending from the origin of the points of the sphere, exactly one ray is red, one white and one black. They also showed that any consistent colouring of the real sphere requires an additional colour. We discuss some of the consequences for the Kochen-Specker theorem.

It is demonstrated that the 60 rays corresponding to antipodal pairs of vertices of the 600-cell, and the 300 rays corresponding to antipodal pairs of vertices of the 120-cell, can both be used to give noncolouring proofs of the Bell-Kochen-Specker theorem in four dimensions.

A generalized proof of Bell's theorem without inequalities via the singlet state of two spin-(2n + 1)/2 fermionic particles for two observers is proposed. It is a direct and meaningful extension of that presented by A. Cabello [Phys. Rev. A67 (2003) 032107] and the proof from A. Cabello is included in our proof as a special example.

The Bell - Kochen - Specker theorem against non-contextual hidden variables can be proved by constructing a finite set of `totally non-colourable' directions, as Kochen and Specker did in a Hilbert space of dimension n = 3. We generalize Kochen and Specker's set to Hilbert spaces of any finite dimension , in a three-step process that shows the relationship between different kinds of proofs (`continuum', `probabilistic', `state-specific' and `state-independent') of the Bell - Kochen - Specker theorem. At the same time, this construction of a totally non-colourable set of directions in any dimension explicitly solves the question raised by Zimba and Penrose about the existence of such a set for n = 5.

In the light of the Bell-Kochen-Specker theorem, we examine a feasible experimental test in order to discriminate between non-contextual hidden-variables and some probabilistic predictions of quantum mechanics.

We study the classical and quantum values of one- and two-party linear games, an important class of unique games that generalizes the well-known XOR games to the case of non-binary outcomes. We introduce a ``constraint graph" associated to such a game, with the constraints defining the linear game represented by an edge-coloring of the graph. We use the graph-theoretic characterization to relate the task of finding equivalent games to the notion of signed graphs and switching equivalence from graph theory. We relate the problem of computing the classical value of single-party anti-correlation XOR games to finding the edge bipartization number of a graph, which is known to be MaxSNP hard, and connect the computation of the classical value of more general XOR-d games to the identification of specific cycles in the graph. We construct an orthogonality graph of the game from the constraint graph and study its Lov\'{a}sz theta number as a general upper bound on the quantum value even in the case of single-party contextual XOR-d games. Linear games possess appealing properties for use in device-independent applications such as randomness of the local correlated outcomes in the optimal quantum strategy. We study the possibility of obtaining quantum algebraic violation of these games, and show that no finite linear game possesses the property of pseudo-telepathy leaving the frequently used chained Bell inequalities as the natural candidates for such applications. We also show this lack of pseudo-telepathy for multi-party XOR-type inequalities involving two-body correlation functions.

The contextuality of quantum mechanics can be shown by the violation of inequalities based on measurements of well chosen observables. These inequalities have been designed separately for both discrete and continuous variables. Here we unify both strategies by introducing general conditions to demonstrate the contextuality of quantum mechanics from measurements of observables of arbitrary dimensions. Among the consequences of our results is the impossibility of having a maximal violation of contextuality in the Peres-Mermin scenario with discrete observables of odd dimensions. In addition, we show how to construct a large class of observables with a continuous spectrum enabling the realization of contextuality tests both in the Gaussian and non-Gaussian regimes.

We present an ``all versus nothing'' to show Bell's theorem without inequalities involving 2n observers. As a by-product, we also shows that quantum mechanics can violate Bell's inequality by a constant instead of by an amount that grows exponentially with 2n.

The author presents a simple proof of a theorem which places constraints on hidden-variables theories alternative to quantum mechanics.

A general algebraic formalism for the study of local contextual hidden variable theories is presented. Contextuality, which is a property of all consistent hidden variable theories, is interpreted as a manifestation of the inadequacy of the algebra of quantum observables to completely describe physical systems. The Bell inequalities obstruction to locality is overcome by the use of a generalized probability theory.

A general algebraic formalism for studying contextual hidden variable theories is developed. The contextuality is understood as a manifestation of an inadequacy in the algebra of quantum observables for the complete description of the system. It is shown that it is always possible to 'improve' the algebra of quantum observables, explicitly paying attention to contexts, such that this improved algebra becomes a base for a hidden variable theory.

Quantum contextuality is one of the fundamental notions in quantum mechanics. Proofs of the Kochen-Specker theorem and noncontextuality inequalities are two means for revealing the contextuality phenomenon in quantum mechanics. It has been found that some proofs of the Kochen-Specker theorem, such as those based on rays, can be converted to a state-independent noncontextuality inequality, but it remains open whether it is true in general, i.e., whether any proof of the Kochen-Specker theorem can always be converted to a noncontextuality inequality. In this paper, we address this issue. We prove that all kinds of proofs of the Kochen-Specker theorem, based on rays or any other observables, can always be converted to state-independent noncontextuality inequalities. Besides, our constructive proof also provides a general approach for deriving a state-independent noncontextuality inequality from a proof of the Kochen-Specker theorem., 10 pages, no figure

Bell's theorem states that quantum mechanics cannot be accounted for by any local theory. One of the examples is the existence of quantum non-locality is essentially violated by the local Bell's inequality. Therefore, the violation of Bell's inequality (BI) has been regarded as one of the robust evidences of quantum mechanics. Until now, BI has been tested by many experiments, but the maximal violation (i.e., Cirel'son limit) has never been achieved. By improving the design of entangled sources and optimizing the measurement settings, in this work we report the stronger violations of the Clauser–Horne–Shimony–Holt (CHSH)-type Bell's inequality. The biggest value of Bell's function in our experiment reaches to a significant one: S = 2.772± 0.063, approaching to the so-called Cirel'son limit in which the Bell function value is . Further improvement is possible by optimizing the entangled-photon sources.

About 50 years ago John St. Bell published his famous Bell theorem that initiated a new field in physics. This contribution discusses how discrete symmetries relate to the big open questions of quantum mechanics, in particular:(i) how correlations stronger than those predicted by theories sharing randomness (Bell's theorem) relate to the violation of the CP symmetry and the P symmetry; and its relation to the security of quantum cryptography,(ii) how the measurement problem ("why do we observe no tables in superposition?") can be polled in weakly decaying systems,(iii) how strongly and weakly interacting quantum systems are affected by Newton's self gravitation.These presented preliminary results show that the meson-antimeson systems and the hyperon- antihyperon systems are a unique laboratory to tackle deep fundamental questions and to contribute to the understand what impact the violation of discrete symmetries has.

We present a new characterization of quantum theory in terms of simple physical principles that is different from previous ones in two important respects: first, it only refers to properties of single systems without any assumptions on the composition of many systems; and second, it is closer to experiment by having absence of higher-order interference as a postulate, which is currently the subject of experimental investigation. We give three postulates -- no higher-order interference, classical decomposability of states, and strong symmetry -- and prove that the only non-classical operational probabilistic theories satisfying them are real, complex, and quaternionic quantum theory, together with 3-level octonionic quantum theory and ball state spaces of arbitrary dimension. Then we show that adding observability of energy as a fourth postulate yields complex quantum theory as the unique solution, relating the emergence of the complex numbers to the possibility of Hamiltonian dynamics. We also show that there may be interesting non-quantum theories satisfying only the first two of our postulates, which would allow for higher-order interference in experiments while still respecting the contextuality analogue of the local orthogonality principle., 21 + 6 pages, 1 figure. v4: published version (includes several minor corrections)

The set of subsystems Σ(m) of a finite quantum system Σ(n) with variables in (n), together with logical connectives, is a Heyting algebra. The probabilities τ(m|ρn)=Tr[(m)ρn] (where (m) is the projector to Σ(m)) are compatible with associativity of the join in the Heyting algebra, only if the variables belong to the same chain. Consequently, contextuality in the present formalism, has the chains as contexts. Various Bell-like inequalities are discussed. They are violated, and this proves that quantum mechanics is a contextual theory.

We show that by taking into account randomness of realization of experimental contexts it is possible to construct common Kolmogorov space for data collected for these contexts, although they can be incompatible. We call such a construction "Kolmogorovization" of contextuality. This construction of common probability space is applied to Bell's inequality. It is well known that its violation is a consequence of collecting statistical data in a few incompatible experiments. In experiments performed in quantum optics contexts are determined by selections of pairs of angles $(\theta_i, \theta^\prime_j)$ fixing orientations of polarization beam splitters. Opposite to the common opinion, we show that statistical data corresponding to measurements of polarizations of photons in the singlet state, e.g., in the form of correlations, can be described in the classical probabilistic framework. The crucial point is that in constructing the common probability space one has to take into account not only randomness of the source (as Bell did), but also randomness of context-realizations (in particular, realizations of pairs of angles $(\theta_i, \theta^\prime_j)$). One may (but need not) say that randomness of "free will" has to be accounted.

It is pointed out that the 60 complex rays in four dimensions associated with a system of two qubits yield over 10^9 critical parity proofs of the Kochen-Specker theorem. The geometrical properties of the rays are described, an overview of the parity proofs contained in them is given, and examples of some of the proofs are exhibited., Comment: 17 pages, 13 tables, 3 figures. Several new references have been added

A factual inconsistency of the nonlocality theory is demonstrated via a careful analysis of the conceptual and formal contents of Bell's theorem and the inequalities associated with it. The conceptual inconsistency of the theory follows from the consideration that it is, in principle, impossible to formulate quantum mechanics in terms of local hidden variables. The formal inconsistency of the nonlocality theory follows from the facts that: (i) nonlocality is not a physical property that can be represented by a function or an operator; (ii) it is impossible to derive Bell's inequality in a mathematically consistent way; and (iii) Bell's definition of locality is incorrect. Therefore, Bell's theorem cannot serve as the foundation for the introduction of the nonlocality notion in quantum mechanics.

Building on earlier work, we further develop a formalism based on the mathematical theory of frames that defines a set of possible phase-space or quasi-probability representations of finite-dimensional quantum systems. We prove that an alternate approach to defining a set of quasi-probability representations, based on a more natural generalization of a classical representation, is equivalent to our earlier approach based on frames, and therefore is also subject to our no-go theorem for a non-negative representation. Furthermore, we clarify the relationship between the contextuality of quantum theory and the necessity of negativity in quasi-probability representations and discuss their relevance as criteria for non-classicality. We also provide a comprehensive overview of known quasi-probability representations and their expression within the frame formalism., Comment: 46 pages, 1 table, contains a review of finite dimensional quasi-probability functions

The Kochen-Specker Theorem is widely interpreted to imply that non-contextual hidden variable theories that agree with the predictions of Copenhagen quantum mechanics are impossible. The import of the theorem for a novel observer independent interpretation of quantum mechanics, due to Sorkin, is investigated., 17 pages. Revised after refereeing

By analyzing the concept of contextuality (Bell-Kochen-Specker) in terms of pre-and-post-selection (PPS), it is possible to assign definite values to observables in a new way. Physical reasons are presented for restrictions on these assignments. When measurements are performed which do not disturb the pre- and post-selection (i.e. weak measurements), then novel experimental aspects of contextuality can be demonstrated including a proof that every PPS-paradox with definite predictions implies contextuality. Certain results of these measurements (eccentric weak values with e.g. negative values outside the spectrum), however, cannot be explained by a "classical-like" hidden variable theory. Surprising theoretical implications are discussed.

Bell's theorem represents a significant advance in understanding the conceptual foundations of quantum mechanics. The theorem shows that essentially all local theories of natural phenomena that are formulated within the framework of realism may be tested using a single experimental arrangement. Moreover, the predictions by those theories must significantly differ from those by quantum mechanics. Experimental results evidently refute the theorem's predictions for these theories and favour those of quantum mechanics. The conclusions are philosophically startling: either one must totally abandon the realistic philosophy of most working scientists, or dramatically revise out concept of space-time.

Quantum mechanically for the Bohm-Aharonov system of two spin-1/2 particles in a singlet state the polarisation correlation parameter is P(a, b) mod QM=( sigma 1.a sigma 2.b)=-a.b. For a class of hidden variable theories, including those with P(a, a)=-1, the authors formulate the Einstein-Bell locality condition and obtains a generalisation of Bell's inequality.

John S Bell 1987 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press vii + 212 pp price £25 ISBN 0 521 33495 0 This book is a collection of John Bell's papers dealing explicitly with the foundations of quantum mechanics (or, as he puts it, 'quantum philosophy'), plus one paper on the pedagogy of special relativity. The first two are the classic papers of 1 966 and 1 964, which respectively demolished the 'impossibility proofs' concerning hidden variables and proved the famous theorem on the incompatibility of the predictions of local hidden-variable theories with those of quantum mechanics.