The Franson experiment as an example of spontaneous breaking of time-translation symmetry

TL;DR

This paper presents a statistical hidden-variable model explaining the Franson experiment by demonstrating spontaneous breaking of time-translation symmetry, offering insights into quantum correlations and symmetry mechanisms.

Contribution

It introduces a novel hidden-variable model that reproduces quantum predictions for the Franson experiment through symmetry breaking mechanisms.

Findings

Model reproduces quantum correlations in the Franson setup

Spontaneous symmetry breaking explains geometric phase acquisition

Provides a physical interpretation of hidden variables in quantum optics

Abstract

We describe an explicit statistical model of local hidden variables that reproduces the predictions of quantum mechanics for the ideal Franson experiment and sheds light on the physical mechanisms that might be involved in the actual experiment. The crux of our model is the spontaneous breaking of the time-translation gauge symmetry by the hidden configurations of the pairs of photons locked in time and energy involved in the experiment, which acquire a non-zero geometric phase through certain cyclic transformations.