Testing foundations of quantum mechanics with photons

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent photonic experiments testing core quantum mechanics principles, focusing on wave-particle duality and Bell nonlocality, highlighting advances that address longstanding loopholes in fundamental tests.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of recent experimental progress in photonics that rigorously tests foundational quantum concepts, including loophole-free Bell tests.

Findings

Recent experiments confirm wave-particle duality with high precision.

Loophole-free Bell tests have been successfully implemented.

Advances in photonics enable more rigorous tests of quantum foundations.

Abstract

The foundational ideas of quantum mechanics continue to give rise to counterintuitive theories and physical effects that are in conflict with a classical description of Nature. Experiments with light at the single photon level have historically been at the forefront of tests of fundamental quantum theory and new developments in photonics engineering continue to enable new experiments. Here we review recent photonic experiments to test two foundational themes in quantum mechanics: wave-particle duality, central to recent complementarity and delayed-choice experiments; and Bell nonlocality where recent theoretical and technological advances have allowed all controversial loopholes to be separately addressed in different photonics experiments.