Anomalies in experimental data for the EPR-Bohm experiment: Are both classical and quantum mechanics wrong?

TL;DR

This paper investigates anomalies in EPR-Bohm experimental data, revealing deviations from quantum predictions that cancel out in some correlations but not others, questioning the completeness of classical and quantum models.

Contribution

It uncovers specific anomalies in experimental data that challenge the assumptions of both classical and quantum mechanics in explaining Bell test results.

Findings

Correlations match quantum predictions despite probability deviations.

Deviations cancel in some correlation functions but not in others.

Neither classical nor quantum models fully explain all statistical data.

Abstract

We analyze anomalies in data to test the violation of Bell's inequality for the EPR-Bohm experiment. We found that the experimental correlations for photon polarization have an intriguing property. In the experimental data there are visible non-negligible deviations of probabilities $P_{++}^{\rm{exp}}(\alpha, \beta), P_{+-}^{\rm{exp}}(\alpha, \beta), P_{-+}^{\rm{exp}}(\alpha, \beta), P_{--}^{\rm{exp}}(\alpha, \beta) $ from the predictions of quantum mechanics, namely, $P_{++}(\alpha, \beta)=P_{--}(\alpha, \beta)= {1/2}\cos^2(\alpha-\beta)$ and $P_{+-}=P_{-+}(\alpha, \beta)={1/2}\sin^2(\alpha-\beta).$ However, in some mysterious way those deviations compensate each other and finally the correlation $E^{\rm{exp}}(\alpha, \beta)= P_{++}^{\rm{exp}}(\alpha, \beta)- P_{+-}^{\rm{exp}}(\alpha, \beta)- P_{-+}^{\rm{exp}}(\alpha, \beta)+ P_{--}^{\rm{exp}}(\alpha, \beta)$ is in the complete agreement with the QM-prediction, namely, $E(\alpha, \beta)= P_{++}(\alpha, \beta)- P_{+-}(\alpha, \beta)- P_{-+}(\alpha, \beta)+ P_{--}(\alpha, \beta)= \cos 2(\alpha-\beta).$ Therefore such anomalies play no role in the Bell's inequality framework. Nevertheless, other linear combinations of experimental probabilities do not have such a compensation property. There can be found non-negligible deviations from predictions of quantum mechanics. Thus neither classical nor quantum model can pass the whole family of statistical tests given by all possible linear combinations of the EPR-Bohm probabilities. Does it mean that both models are wrong?