Verification of Kochen-Specker-type quantum contextuality with a single photon

TL;DR

This paper experimentally verifies quantum contextuality using a single photon encoded with multiple degrees of freedom, testing noncontextual inequalities derived from Kochen-Specker theorem proofs.

Contribution

It derives equivalent noncontextual inequalities from different models and experimentally tests them using hyperentangled single-photon states.

Findings

Successful verification of noncontextual inequalities with single-photon hyperentanglement

Demonstration of state-dependent noncontextual model violations

Validation of Kochen-Specker theorem proofs in a single-photon system

Abstract

Contextuality provides one of the fundamental characterizations of quantum phenomena, and can be used as a resource in lots of quantum information processing. In this paper, we summarize and derive some equivalent noncontextual inequalities from different noncontextual models of the proofs for Kochen-Specker theorem based on Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states. These noncontextual inequalities are equivalent up to some correlation items which hold both for noncontextual hidden variable theories and quantum mechanics. Therefore, using single-photon hyperentangled Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states encoded by spin, path and orbital angular momentum, we experimentally verify several state-dependent noncontextual models of the proofs for the Kochen-Specker theorem by testing an extreme simplest Mermin-like inequality.