Testing tripartite Mermin inequalities by spectral joint measurements of qubits

Abstract

Using spectral joint measurements of the qubits, we propose a scheme to test the tripartite Mermin inequality with three qubits dispersively coupled to a driven cavity. First, we show how to generate a three-qubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) state by only one-step quantum operation. Then spectral joint measurements are introduced to directly confirm such tripartite entanglement. Assisted by a series of single-qubit operations, these measurements are further utilized to test the Mermin inequality. The feasibility of the proposal is robustly demonstrated by the present numerical experiments. © 2011 American Physical Society.