Detector efficiency in the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger paradox: Independent errors

Abstract

The Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) paradox is subject to the detector-efficiency “loophole” in a similar manner as the Bell inequality. In a paper by J.-Å. Larsson [Phys. Rev. A 57, R3145 (1998)], the issue is investigated for very general assumptions. Here, the assumptions of constant efficiency and independent errors will be imposed, and it will be shown that the necessary and sufficient efficiency bound is not lowered, but remains at $75\%$. An explicit local-variable model is constructed in this paper to show the necessity of this bound. In other words, it is not possible to use the independence of experimental nondetection errors to rule out local realism in the GHZ paradox below $75\%$ efficiency.