Quantum nonlocality, Bell inequalities, and the memory loophole

Abstract

In the analysis of experiments designed to reveal violation of Bell-type inequalities, it is usually assumed that any hidden variables associated with the [Formula Presented] particle pair would be independent of measurement choices and outcomes for the first [Formula Presented] pairs. Models which violate this assumption exploit what we call the memory loophole. We focus on the strongest type of violation, which uses the two-sided memory loophole, in which the hidden variables for pair n can depend on the previous measurement choices and outcomes in both wings of the experiment. We show that the two-sided memory loophole allows a systematic violation of the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) inequality when the data are analyzed in the standard way, but cannot produce a violation if a CHSH expression depending linearly on the data is used. In the first case, the maximal CHSH violation becomes small as the number of particle pairs tested becomes large. Hence, although in principle the memory loophole implies a slight flaw in the existing analyses of Bell experiments, the data still strongly confirm quantum mechanics against local hidden variables. We consider also a related loophole, the simultaneous measurement loophole, which applies if all measurements on each side are carried out simultaneously. We show that this can increase the probability of violating the linearized CHSH inequality as well as other Bell-type inequalities. © 2002 The American Physical Society.