Abstract
Quantum mechanics allows events to happen with no definite causal order: this can be verified by measuring a causal witness, in the same way that an entanglement witness verifies entanglement. Here, we realize a photonic quantum switch, where two operations A^ and B^ act in a quantum superposition of their two possible orders. The operations are on the transverse spatial mode of the photons; polarization coherently controls their order. Our implementation ensures that the operations cannot be distinguished by spatial or temporal position - further it allows qudit encoding in the target. We confirm our quantum switch has no definite causal order by constructing a causal witness and measuring its value to be 18 standard deviations beyond the definite-order bound.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 090503 |
Pages (from-to) | 090503-1-090503-5 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Physical Review Letters |
Volume | 121 |
Issue number | 9 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 31 Aug 2018 |
Externally published | Yes |