Nonlocality of Quantum States can be Transitive

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that quantum states can exhibit nonlocality transitivity, where nonlocality in two bipartite subsystems induces nonlocality in the remaining one, revealing new quantum correlation phenomena.

Contribution

First to analytically show quantum states can manifest nonlocality transitivity, expanding understanding of quantum correlations and their implications.

Findings

Constructed quantum states demonstrating nonlocality transitivity

Proved multiple copies of W-state marginals determine the global state

Showed nonlocality transitivity occurs in reduced states of random three-qutrit states

Abstract

As a striking manifestation of quantum entanglement, nonlocality has long played a pivotal role in shaping our understanding of the quantum world. When considering a Bell test involving three parties, we may even find a remarkable situation where the nonlocality in two bipartite subsystems {\em forces} the remaining bipartite subsystem to exhibit nonlocality. This intriguing effect, dubbed nonlocality transitivity, was first identified in the non-quantum non-signaling world in 2011. However, whether such transitivity could manifest within quantum theory has remained unresolved -- until now. Here, we provide the first affirmative answer to this open problem at the level of quantum states, thereby showing that there exists a quantum-realizable notion of nonlocality transitivity. Specifically, by leveraging the possibility of Bell-inequality violation by tensoring, we analytically construct a pair of nonlocal bipartite states such that simultaneously realizing them in a tripartite system induces nonlocality in the remaining bipartite subsystem. En route to showing this, we also prove that multiple copies of the $W$-state marginals uniquely determine the global compatible state, thus establishing another instance when the parts determine the whole. Surprisingly, the nonlocality transitivity of quantum states also occurs among the reduced states of Haar-random three-qutrit pure states. We further show that the transitivity of quantum steering can already be demonstrated with the marginals of a three-qubit $W$ state, showing again another noteworthy difference between the two forms of quantum correlations. Finally, we present a simple method to construct quantum states and correlations that are nonlocal in all their non-unipartite marginals, which may be of independent interest.