Experimental demonstration of the connection between quantum contextuality and graph theory

TL;DR

This paper introduces a method linking quantum contextuality with graph theory, enabling the detection of complex contextuality in high-precision experiments, and demonstrates this with high-dimensional photon states.

Contribution

It presents a novel approach connecting quantum contextuality to graph theory and experimentally verifies an extreme form of contextuality using high-dimensional quantum states.

Findings

Identified a new graph representing an extreme form of quantum contextuality

Successfully tested the graph-theoretic approach with high-dimensional photon states

Opened pathways for exploring quantum contextuality relevant to quantum computing

Abstract

We report a method that exploits a connection between quantum contextuality and graph theory to reveal any form of quantum contextuality in high-precision experiments. We use this technique to identify a graph which corresponds to an extreme form of quantum contextuality unnoticed before and test it using high-dimensional quantum states encoded in the linear transverse momentum of single photons. Our results open the door to the experimental exploration of quantum contextuality in all its forms, including those needed for quantum computation.