Comment on `A scattering quantum circuit for measuring Bell's time inequality: a nuclear magnetic resonance demonstration using maximally mixed states'
arXiv:1207.2786 · doi:10.1088/1367-2630/14/5/058001
Abstract
A recent paper by Souza, Oliveira and Sarthour (SOS) reports the experimental violation of a Leggett-Garg inequality (sometimes referred to as a temporal Bell inequality). The inequality tests for quantum mechanical superposition: if the inequality is violated, the dynamics cannot be explained by a large class of classical theories under the heading of macrorealism. Experimental tests of the LG inequality are beset by the difficulty of performing the necessary so-called 'non-invasive' measurements (which for the macrorealist will extract information from a system of interest without disturbing it). SOS argue that they nevertheless achieve this difficult goal by putting the system in a maximally mixed state. The system then allegedly undergoes no perturbation during their experiment. Unfortunately the method is ultimately unconvincing to a skeptical macrorealist, and so the conclusions drawn by SOS are unjustified.
6 pages, 1 figure