We consider the question of whether it is possible to use the entanglement between spatially separated modes of massive particles to observe nonlocal quantum correlations. Mode entanglement can be obtained using a single particle, indicating that it requires careful consideration before concluding whether experimental observation—e.g., violation of Bell inequalities—is possible or not. In the simplest setups analogous to optics experiments, that observation is prohibited by fundamental conservation laws. However, we show that using auxiliary particles, mode entanglement can be converted into forms that allow the observation of quantum nonlocality. The probability of successful conversion depends on the nature and number of auxiliary particles used. In particular, we find that an auxiliary Bose-Einstein condensate allows the conversion arbitrarily many times with a small error that depends only on the initial state of the condensate.

• Received 26 September 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.75.022108