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Experimental Entanglement of Temporal Orders

Giulia Rubino, Lee Arthur Rozema, Francesco Massa, Mateus Araújo, Magdalena Zych, Caslav Brukner, Philip Walther
(Submitted on 19 Dec 2017 (v1), last revised 21 Dec 2017 (this version, v2))

The study of causal relations, a cornerstone of physics, has recently been applied to the quantum realm, leading to the discovery that not all quantum processes have a definite causal structure. Here, we present the first theory-independent experimental demonstration of entangled temporal orders, resulting in a process with an indefinite causal structure. While such processes have previously been observed, these observations relied on the assumption that experimental operations and systems are described by quantum theory. This opens a `loophole' wherein the observed process can be explained by an underlying theory with a definite causal structure. To circumvent this, we build a model attempting to describe experimental data using general probabilistic theories that are local and have a definite temporal order. We then experimentally invalidate this model by violating a Bell inequality. We therefore conclude, independent of underlying generalized probabilistic theories, that nature is incompatible with a local definite temporal order.

https://arxiv.org/abs/1712.06884