Optimal violation of Leggett-Garg inequality for arbitrary spin and emergence of classicality through unsharp measurement

Abstract

We consider temporal correlations of particles with arbitrary spin. We show that the Leggett-Garg inequality can be maximally violated irrespective of the value of spin, thus improving upon an earlier result by Kofler and Brukner [Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{99}, 180403 (2007)]. Our proof is accomplished through a suitable adoption of a measurement scheme which has previously been employed for studying the spatial correlation in a system with arbitrary spin. We next consider generalized or unsharp measurements as a method for coarse graining in a quantitative manner, and show that classicality emerges below a precise value of the sharpness parameter. Satisfaction of the Leggett-Garg inequality is shown to be a necessary and sufficient condition for macroscopic realism.