Testing the speed of ‘spooky action at a distance’

Daniel Salart (), Augustin Baas, Cyril Branciard, Nicolas Gisin and Hugo Zbinden
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Daniel Salart: Group of Applied Physics, University of Geneva, 20 Rue de l’Ecole de Médecine, CH-1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland
Augustin Baas: Group of Applied Physics, University of Geneva, 20 Rue de l’Ecole de Médecine, CH-1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland
Cyril Branciard: Group of Applied Physics, University of Geneva, 20 Rue de l’Ecole de Médecine, CH-1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland
Nicolas Gisin: Group of Applied Physics, University of Geneva, 20 Rue de l’Ecole de Médecine, CH-1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland
Hugo Zbinden: Group of Applied Physics, University of Geneva, 20 Rue de l’Ecole de Médecine, CH-1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland

Nature, 2008, vol. 454, issue 7206, 861-864

Abstract: Spooky action: setting a speed limit Einstein called entanglement, a type of correlation found only in quantum physics, 'spooky action at a distance'. Experimental tests known as Bell inequalities have all but ruled out a classical explanation for such correlations, but the possibility remains that a first event could influence a second one, if the influence occurs faster than the speed of light. An impressive new experiment has been performed with a view to establishing a lower limit for the speed of such hypothetical influences. The experiment involved a Bell inequality test lasting more than 24 hours between two Swiss villages 18 km apart and approximately east–west oriented, with the source located precisely in the middle. Taking advantage of the Earth's rotation, the experiment allowed the determination of a lower bound for the speed of any such influence. The conclusion was that the minimal speed of hypothetical spooky action at a distance, under plausible assumptions for this experiment, is at least 10,000 times greater than the speed of light. The existence in nature of a real spooky action at a distance is therefore deemed implausible.

Date: 2008
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DOI: 10.1038/nature07121

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