Bell's Inequality and $τ$-Physics at LEP

Abstract

In this talk given at the TAU92 Workshop, Columbus, OH, Sept. 92, we summarize results presented in more detail in a recent paper by S. Abel, M. Dittmar and the author where we gave a general proof that Bell's inequality can not be tested at a collider experiment. In particular, a measurement of correlated tau-spins at LEP does not constitute a test of local realistic theories via Bell's inequality. The central point of the argument is that such tests, where the spins of two particles are inferred from a scattering distribution, can always be described by a local hidden variable theory. In response to questions at the workshop we go beyond the paper and show that an old experiment involving the measurement of the correlated spins of the two photons emitted in positronium decay via Compton-scattering is also not a viable test of Bell's inequality.