When More Light Means Less Quantum: Modeling Bell Inequality Degradation from Accidental Counts

Abstract

We investigate how accidental counts, the detection events not originating from genuine entangled photon pairs, impact the observed violation of Bell inequalities in photonic experiments. These false coincidences become increasingly significant at higher laser pump powers, limiting the strength of Bell violations and thus the performance of quantum protocols such as device-independent quantum random number generation and quantum key distribution. We propose a simple noise model that quantitatively links the Bell value to the pump strength. Using experimental data from recent SPDC-based Bell tests, we fit the model to a Bell expression, and demonstrate accurate prediction of Bell values across a range of pump settings. Our results provide practical guidance for optimizing source brightness while preserving quantum nonlocality, with direct implications for high-rate, secure quantum technologies.