BELL INEQUALITIES AND 2 EXPERIMENTAL TESTS WITH MERCURY Conference Paper uri icon

abstract

  • Most experimental tests of Bell inequalities have involved measurements of correlations between two photons. One of the first definitive experiments involved the linear polarization correlation between two photons in an atomic cascade of 200Hg. That experiment is discussed in depth in this paper. The form of the initial state density matrix was a critical part of that experiment; and the experimental and theoretical determination of the density matrix, including finite solid-angle effects is discussed. However, all Bell inequality experiments to date have two widely recognized loopholes, detector efficiency and locality. This paper concludes with a very brief description of an experiment that will close both of these loopholes. In contrast to existing experiments with photons, this new test involves spin correlations between the nuclei of two 199Hg atoms; it is an exact experimental realization of Bohm's version of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen gedankenexperiment.

published proceedings

  • QUANTUM AND SEMICLASSICAL OPTICS

author list (cited authors)

  • FRY, E. S.

citation count

  • 7

complete list of authors

  • FRY, ES

publication date

  • January 1995