A simple hidden variable experiment

TL;DR

This paper presents a straightforward experiment with single photons showing that traditional hidden variable assumptions are incompatible with quantum mechanics, yet a classical wave model remains plausible despite Bell inequality violations.

Contribution

It introduces a simple, transparent experiment that challenges the standard hidden variables assumptions and suggests classical wave models are still viable.

Findings

Hidden variable assumptions are inconsistent with quantum mechanics.

Classical wave models are not ruled out by Bell inequality violations.

The experiment uses only single photons for simplicity and clarity.

Abstract

An experiment is described which proves, using single photons only, that the standard hidden variables assumptions (commonly used to derive Bell inequalities) are inconsistent with quantum mechanics. The analysis is very simple and transparent. In particular, it demonstrates that a classical wave model for quantum mechanics is not ruled out by experiments demonstrating the violation of the traditional hidden variable assumptions.