Exact operator bounds on Leggett-Garg violations
Abstract
Leggett-Garg (LG) inequalities test whether correlations measured at different times admit a positive joint probability distribution over histories. A violation requires negative values in any joint quasiprobability distribution reproducing those correlations, but such distributions can have negative values even without a violation. Spacetime density kernels extend the density-matrix description to multiple times and are used to study timelike entanglement. We establish a universal bound that relates LG violations to their negative eigenvalue weight. For LG tests involving any number of measurements, we determine the least compatible kernel negativity through an exact relation valid for any system dimension, initial state, dynamics, or measurement rule. This minimum is nonzero if and only if at least one LG inequality is violated. Three-time Lüders LG tests certify at most one eighth of negativity, whereas measurements resolving individual spin levels can approach one half. Including additional incompatible qubit observables gives a further exact minimum that can exceed the LG-only ceiling without increasing the LG violation.
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BibTeX
@misc{das2026exact,
title = {{Exact operator bounds on Leggett-Garg violations}},
author = {Rathindra Nath Das and Arnab Kundu and Nemai Chandra Sarkar},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.33429},
eprint = {2610.33429},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.33429},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Exact operator bounds on Leggett-Garg violations
AU - Rathindra Nath Das
AU - Arnab Kundu
AU - Nemai Chandra Sarkar
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/24
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.33429
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.33429
AB - Leggett-Garg (LG) inequalities test whether correlations measured at different times admit a positive joint probability distribution over histories. A violation requires negative values in any joint quasiprobability distribution reproducing those correlations, but such distributions can have negative values even without a violation. Spacetime density kernels extend the density-matrix description to multiple times and are used to study timelike entanglement. We establish a universal bound that relates LG violations to their negative eigenvalue weight. For LG tests involving any number of measurements, we determine the least compatible kernel negativity through an exact relation valid for any system dimension, initial state, dynamics, or measurement rule. This minimum is nonzero if and only if at least one LG inequality is violated. Three-time Lüders LG tests certify at most one eighth of negativity, whereas measurements resolving individual spin levels can approach one half. Including additional incompatible qubit observables gives a further exact minimum that can exceed the LG-only ceiling without increasing the LG violation.
ER -