爱因斯坦等人提出的EPR佯谬和Bell隐变量理论揭示了量子力学两个相互关联的重要特性:非局域性和量子纠缠.它们使得微观量子系统之间可以建立非局域的超越经典的关联.非局域性和量子纠缠是量子力学最本质的特征.这些性质的发现不仅为解决量子力学的基本问题提供了可能,同时也揭示了量子力学不同于其他力学的根本所在,为研究量子力学与经典力学、相对论之间的关系与融合提供了新的洞察.量子非局域性和量子纠缠还提供了研究多体物理(新的拓扑相)的新工具.
EPR paradox proposed by A. Einstein and Bell's hidden variables theory discovered two related important characteristics of quantum mechanics: quantum nonlocality and quantum entanglement. These characteristics guarantee that two remotely separated particles can be prepared in quantum state with correlation beyond classical physics. Quantum nonlocality and quantum entanglement are the intrinsic characteristics of quantum mechanics. They may offer new insights for fundamental of quantum mechanics. They also show the intrinsic difference between quantum mechanics and other physics, such as classical mechanics and general relativity, and they potentially play the key roles in solving the consistency of gravity and quantum mechanics. They also provide novel tools to discover new physics, such as new topological phases in many-body physics.