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Fifty years of Bells theorem

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2014 J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 47 420301
(http://iopscience.iop.org/1751-8121/47/42/420301)
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Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical

J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 47 (2014) 420301 (2pp)

doi:10.1088/1751-8113/47/42/420301

Editorial

Fifty years of Bells theorem

In quantum mechanics, the outcome of a measurement is generally not pre-determined and the
theory only predicts the probability of each possible outcome. This has already puzzled the
founding fathers of the theory, as it begs the question whether it is possible to rene quantum
mechanics. Could it be possible to complete quantum theory using additional hidden
variables, such that the indeterminism arises from the ignorance of the hidden variables only,
and is therefore not a fundamental feature of nature itself?
In 1964, however, John Stewart Bell discovered that these hidden variable models cannot
describe certain correlations arising in quantum theory if they are to obey the constraint of
locality [1]. This result has become known as Bells theorem and this special issue celebrates its 50th anniversary. While Bells theorem was largely ignored by the physics community at rst, the situation changed with the rst experimental tests of Bells inequality. The
fact that local hidden variable models can be ruled out based on experimental data had a huge
impact on our modern view of quantum theory. In addition, Bell inequalities are also at the
heart of many protocols and applications in quantum information processing [2]. Therefore, it
is a nice coincidence that exactly twenty ve years ago, Reinhard Werner began to investigate the relation between Bell inequalities and quantum entanglement [3], laying the
foundations for many works on entanglement theory to date.
This issue presents recent results on Bell inequalities and entanglement theory, but also
topical reviews and personal views on John Bell and his theorem. From the papers it can be
seen that there are still ongoing discussions about the assumptions and implications of Bells
work. At rst sight one may be surprised that fty years later not all issues are settled, but in
our opinion this only highlights the importance of Bells work. Only groundbreaking results
in physics lead to such long-lasting discussions, extending even into mathematics and
philosophy.
We would like to thank all authors for their contributions and the presented research
results. Finally, we thank the editorial staff of the journal, in particular Eimear OCallaghan,
for their work and support.
Nicolas Brunner
Dpartement de Physique Thorique, Universit de Genve, 1211 Genve, Switzerland
Otfried Ghne
Naturwissenschaftlich-Technische Fakultt, Universitt Siegen, D-57068 Siegen, Germany
Marcus Huber
Departament de Fsica, Universitat Autnoma de Barcelona, E-08193 Bellaterra, Spain
ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, Mediterranean Technology Park, 08860 Castelldefels
(Barcelona), Spain

1751-8113/14/420301+02$33.00 2014 IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK

J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 47 (2014) 420301

Editorial

References
[1] Bell J S 1964 Physics (Long Island City, NY) 1 195
[2] Brunner N, Cavalcanti D, Pironio S, Scarani V and Wehner S 2014 Rev. Mod. Phys. 86 419
[3] Werner R F 1989 Phys. Rev. A 40 4277