No Bipartite-Nonlocal Causal Theory Can Explain Nature's Correlations

Phys Rev Lett. 2021 Nov 12;127(20):200401. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.200401.

Abstract

We show that some tripartite quantum correlations are inexplicable by any causal theory involving bipartite nonclassical common causes and unlimited shared randomness. This constitutes a device-independent proof that nature's nonlocality is fundamentally at least tripartite in every conceivable physical theory-no matter how exotic. To formalize this claim, we are compelled to substitute Svetlichny's historical definition of genuine tripartite nonlocality with a novel theory-agnostic definition tied to the framework of local operations and shared randomness. A companion article by Coiteux-Roy et al. generalizes these concepts to any N≥3 number of parties, providing experimentally amenable device-independent inequality constraints along with quantum correlations violating them, thereby certifying that nature's nonlocality must be boundlessly multipartite.