Physicists close two loopholes while violating local realism
Tuesday, November 30, 2010 - 11:02
in Physics & Chemistry
(PhysOrg.com) -- The latest test in quantum mechanics provides even stronger support than before for the view that nature violates local realism and is thus in contradiction with a classical worldview. By performing an experiment in which photons were sent from one Canary Island to another, physicists have shown that two of three loopholes can be closed simultaneously in a test that violates Bell's inequality (and therefore local realism) by more than 16 standard deviations. Performing a Bell test that closes all three loopholes still remains a challenge, but the physicists predict that such an experiment might be "on the verge of being possible" with state-of-the-art technology.
