The statement that the observed correlations in the Big Bell test experiment strongly contradict local realism means that the experimental results are inconsistent with a class of theories known as local hidden variable theories.
Local realism is a philosophical concept that suggests that physical systems have pre-existing properties, referred to as hidden variables, and that these properties determine the outcomes of measurements. It also assumes that there is a locality principle, meaning that distant events cannot instantaneously influence each other.
The Bell test experiments, inspired by the work of physicist John Bell in the 1960s, were designed to test the predictions of quantum mechanics against the principles of local realism. These experiments involve entangled particles, which are particles that are deeply interconnected in such a way that the properties of one particle are correlated with the properties of another particle, regardless of the distance between them.
In the Big Bell test experiment, a large-scale version of the Bell test, numerous laboratories worldwide conducted measurements on entangled particle pairs. The results of these measurements showed strong correlations between the properties of the entangled particles that could not be explained by local hidden variable theories.
The violation of local realism in the Big Bell test experiment is in line with the predictions of quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics allows for entangled particles to exhibit correlations that cannot be explained by classical physics or local hidden variable theories. These results support the concept of quantum entanglement and indicate that the behavior of entangled particles is non-local, meaning that their properties are interconnected regardless of distance.
The violation of local realism in experiments like the Big Bell test has significant implications for our understanding of the fundamental nature of reality. It suggests that the world operates according to quantum mechanics rather than classical physics and challenges our intuitions about causality and the nature of physical properties.