No-go theorem for quantum realization of extremal correlations

Abstract: The study of quantum correlations is central to quantum information and foundations. The paradigmatic case of Bell scenarios considers product measurements implemented on a multipartite state. The more general case of contextuality scenarios--where the measurements do not have to be of product form or even on a composite system--has been studied for the case of projective measurements. While it is known that in any Bell scenario extremal indeterministic correlations (e.g., Popescu-Rohrlich or PR boxes) are unachievable quantumly, the case of general contextuality scenarios has remained open. Here we study quantum realizations of extremal correlations in arbitrary contextuality scenarios and prove that, for all such scenarios, no extremal indeterministic correlation can be achieved using projective quantum measurements, i.e., there exists no quantum state and no set of projective measurements, for any contextuality scenario, that can achieve such correlations. This no-go result follows as a corollary of a more general no-go theorem that holds when the most general set of quantum measurements (i.e., positive operator-valued measures, or POVMs) is taken into account. This general no-go theorem entails that no non-trivial quantum realization of an extremal indeterministic correlation exists, i.e., any "quantum" realization must be simulable by classical randomness. We discuss implications of this no-go theorem and the open questions it raises.