Operational Discriminability: From Noncontextuality Bounds to Bell Correlations

Abstract

We investigate discriminability from an operational and contextuality-oriented perspective using a two-copy comparison game based on SWAP-type measurements. The resulting score $D_{\mathrm{op}}$ provides an experimentally accessible notion of distinguishability that does not rely on a minimum-error discrimination task. We first examine whether this discriminability game can directly witness preparation contextuality. Within a preparation-noncontextual ontological model, we derive a direct upper bound on the game score under a SWAP-like comparison rule and a sharp single-copy test, and show that this bound is saturated in the natural qubit realization. Thus, the direct game alone does not provide a contextuality witness in that regime. We then consider a Bell-coupled scenario in which two-copy comparison measurements are applied to Bob's conditional preparations. This yields a state-dependent upper bound on the CHSH value in terms of operational separation parameters, and hence in terms of the distinguishability of the conditional states. Our results establish a quantitative link between operational discriminability and the strength of nonclassical correlations, showing that discriminability can act as an operational resource constraining Bell-type nonclassical correlations.