An experimental proposal for revealing contextuality in almost all qutrit states

TL;DR

This paper proposes an experimental method using single-photon polarization and spatial modes to reveal quantum contextuality in nearly all qutrit states, advancing foundational quantum tests.

Contribution

It introduces a practical experimental scheme to detect contextuality in almost all qutrit states, including considerations of detector inefficiency and losses.

Findings

The proposed test can reveal contextuality in all qutrit states except the completely mixed state.

The experimental setup uses linear optical elements and single-mode detectors.

Theoretical analysis supports the robustness of the test against experimental imperfections.

Abstract

Contextuality is a foundational phenomenon underlying key differences between quantum theory and classical realistic descriptions of the world. Here we propose an experimental test which is capable of revealing contextuality in all qutrit systems, except the completely mixed state, provided we choose the measurement basis appropriately. The 3-level system is furnished by the polarization and spatial degrees of freedom of a single photon, which encompass three orthogonal modes. Projective measurements along rays in the 3-dimensional Hilbert space are made by linear optical elements and detectors which are sensitive to a single mode. We also discuss the impact of detector inefficiency and losses and review the theoretical foundations of this test.