Quantum contextuality and joint measurement of three observables of a qubit

Abstract

Whereas complementarity manifests itself via two incompatible observables, quantum contextuality can only be revealed via the joint measurements among at least three observables. By incorporating unsharp measurements and joint measurements into a realistic model, we reestablish an inequality due to Liang, Spekkens, and Wiseman rigorously based on the assumption of noncontextuality alone. Its violation therefore unambiguously pinpoints the quantum contextuality of a two-level system. The maximal violation is attained by three triplewise jointly measurable observables that are pairwise jointly measured in an incompatible way. We also present the necessary and sufficient condition of triplewise joint measurability of three unbiased observables of a qubit.