Tripartite non-separability in classical optics

Abstract: It is possible to prepare classical optical beams which cannot be characterized by a tensor product of vectors describing each of their degrees of freedom. Here we report the experimental creation of such a non-separable, tripartite GHZ-like state of path, polarization and transverse modes of a classical laser beam. We use a Mach-Zehnder interferometer with an additional mirror and other optical elements to perform measurements that violate Mermin's inequality. This demonstration of a classical optical analogue of tripartite entanglement paves the path to novel optical applications inspired by multipartite quantum information protocols.