Disentangling Nonlocality and Teleportation

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that quantum teleportation is conceptually independent of nonlocality by constructing a local theory where teleportation occurs without nonlocal effects, challenging common assumptions about their connection.

Contribution

It introduces a toy local theory showing teleportation can occur without nonlocality, clarifying the conceptual independence between these phenomena.

Findings

Teleportation can be achieved in a local theory without nonlocality.

Cloning is not possible in the local theory, highlighting differences from quantum mechanics.

Teleportation's mechanism is similar in both quantum and local theories.

Abstract

Quantum entanglement can be used to demonstrate nonlocality and to teleport a quantum state from one place to another. The fact that entanglement can be used to do both these things has led people to believe that teleportation is a nonlocal effect. In this paper it is shown that teleportation is conceptually independent of nonlocality. This is done by constructing a toy local theory in which cloning is not possible (without a no-cloning theory teleportation makes limited sense) but teleportation is. Teleportation in this local theory is achieved in an analogous way to the way it is done with quantum theory. This work provides some insight into what type of process teleportation is.