Communication loophole in a Bell-EPR-Bohm experiment: standard no-signaling may not always be enough to exclude local realism

Abstract

Assuming perfect detection efficiency, we present an (indeterministic) model for an EPR-Bohm experiment which reproduces the singlet correlations, without contradicting Bell's original locality condition. In this model we allow the probability distribution $\ddot{I}{}_{\hat{I}}»$ of the state $\hat{I}»$ at the source to depend parametrically on the orientation $\hat{I}¾$ of one of the measuring devices: $\ddot{I}{}_{\hat{I}}»(\hat{I}»,\hat{I}¾)$. In a Bell experiment, no-signaling between the source and each one of the devices would seem clearly sufficient to rule such an influence; however, not even schemes where the choice of observables takes place during the on-flight time of the particles can prevent, in some situations, a model of this type from violating the local bounds. In particular, a random shift $\ddot{I}{}_{\hat{I}}»(\hat{I}»,\hat{I}{¾}_1)\to \ddot{I}{}_{\hat{I}}»(\hat{I}»,\hat{I}{¾}_2)\to ...\to \ddot{I}{}_{\hat{I}}»(\hat{I}»,\hat{I}{¾}_n)$ allows the model to perform a "subensemble selection" for each of the terms involved in the inequality (analogous to what goes on with the efficiency loophole), whenever some correlation of those $\ddot{I}{}_{\hat{I}}»$-shifts with the sequence of measurement choices is allowed. That correlation does not necessarily imply signaling during the photon on-flight time.

2nd version: references and comment on recent work added