Due to experimental inadequacies in all previous experimental work, a final definitive answer to the question of locality,
the Bell inequalities and the EPR paradox has not yet been obtained. The two loopholes remaining are the detection efficiency loophole and the rigorous enforcement of the locality condition. I am working on a test of the Bell inequalities based on atoms. This project is performed in collaboration with Dr. Fry (original concept). It will be the first test of the Bell inequalities based on atoms and is a direct realization of Bohm's version of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen. Since atoms move much more slowly than photons, the lifetime of the entangled state will be much longer, several orders of magnitude longer than in previous experiments. Due to its
unique features, the experiment will close the previously mentioned loopholes associated with all previous tests of the Bell inequalities. Besides its important fundamental aspects the experiment offers some
interesting technical challenges as well.
I apologize for any omissions of important contributions to the field. If you feel that something important is missing or too briefly discussed, please let me know. Please send suggestions and comments to thomas.walther@physik.tu-darmstadt.de
Prof. Dr. Thomas Walther
Laser und Quantenoptik
Institut für Angewandte Physik
Fachbereich 05 - Physik
Technische Universität Darmstadt
Schlossgartenstr. 7
D-64289 Darmstadt
+49 6151 16-20831 (Sekretariat)
+49 6151 16-20834 (Fax)
Thomas.Walther@physik.tu-...
06.03.17