The Uncertainty Principle Determines the Nonlocality of Quantum Mechanics
- Creators
- Oppenheim, Jonathan
- Wehner, Stephanie
Abstract
Two central concepts of quantum mechanics are Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and a subtle form of nonlocality that Einstein famously called "spooky action at a distance." These two fundamental features have thus far been distinct concepts. We show that they are inextricably and quantitatively linked: Quantum mechanics cannot be more nonlocal with measurements that respect the uncertainty principle. In fact, the link between uncertainty and nonlocality holds for all physical theories. More specifically, the degree of nonlocality of any theory is determined by two factors: the strength of the uncertainty principle and the strength of a property called "steering," which determines which states can be prepared at one location given a measurement at another.
Additional Information
© 2010 American Association for the Advancement of Science. Received for publication 10 May 2010. Accepted for publication 1 October 2010. The retrieval game used was discovered in collaboration with A. Doherty. Supported by the Royal Society ( J.O.) and by NSF grants PHY-04056720 and PHY-0803371, the National Research Foundation of Singapore, and the Singapore Ministry of Education (S.W.). Part of this work was done while J.O. was visiting California Institute of Technology, and while J.O. and S.W. were visiting the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (Santa Barbara, CA), which is funded by NSF grant PHY-0551164.Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 21331
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20101213-140919721
- Royal Society
- PHY-04056720
- NSF
- PHY-0803371
- NSF
- PHY-0551164
- NSF
- National Research Foundation of Singapore
- Singapore Ministry of Education
- Created
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2010-12-14Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-09Created from EPrint's last_modified field