Bell-like inequality for the spin-orbit separability of a laser beam

Abstract

In analogy with Bell's inequality for two-qubit quantum states, we propose an inequality criterion for the nonseparability of the spin-orbit degrees of freedom of a laser beam. A definition of separable and nonseparable spin-orbit modes is used in consonance with the one presented in Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 160401 (2007). As the usual Bell's inequality can be violated for entangled two-qubit quantum states, we show both theoretically and experimentally that the proposed spin-orbit inequality criterion can be violated for nonseparable modes. The inequality is discussed in both the classical and quantum domains.