Orbital Angular Momentum Experimental Bound on the Maximum Predictive Power of Physical Theories in Multi-Dimensional Systems

TL;DR

This paper extends foundational quantum mechanics bounds to high-dimensional systems using orbital angular momentum entanglement, providing experimental limits that challenge alternative theories and enhance quantum cryptography.

Contribution

It generalizes the non-extensibility theorem to arbitrary dimensions and establishes experimental bounds using orbital angular momentum states.

Findings

Falsifies a broad class of alternative theories

Establishes optimal experimental bounds across dimensions

Enhances potential for high-dimensional quantum cryptography

Abstract

The completeness of quantum mechanics in predictive power is a central question in its foundational study. While most investigations focus on two-dimensional systems, high-dimensional systems are more general and widely applicable. Building on the non-extensibility theorem by Colbeck and Renner [Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 050403 (2008)], which established that no higher theory can enhance the predictive power of quantum mechanics for two-dimensional systems, we extend this result to arbitrarily dimensional systems. We connect maximum potential predictive power achievable by any alternative theory to experimentally observable correlations, and establish optimal experimental bounds across varying dimensions by exploiting two-photon orbital angular momentum entangled states with entanglement concentration. These bounds falsify a broader class of alternative theories, including Bell's and Leggett's models, and those that remain theoretically ambiguous or experimentally unverified. Our findings not only deepen the foundational understanding of quantum mechanics but also hold significant potential for high-dimensional quantum cryptography.