Geometry-controlled freezing and revival of Bell nonlocality through environmental memory
Phys. Rev. A 113, 022204 – Published 4 February, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/mycc-r3bx
Abstract
We show that the distance between two qubits coupled to a structured reservoir acts as a single geometric control that can store, revive, or suppress Bell nonlocality. In a mirror-terminated guide, quantum correlations lost to the bath return at discrete recurrence times, turning a product state into a Bell-violating one without any entangling drive (only local basis rotations and/or readout). In the continuum limit, we derive closed-form criteria for the emergence of nonlocality from backflow, and introduce a Bell-based analog of the Breuer-Laine-Piilo measure to quantify this effect. We also show how subwavelength displacements away from a decoherence-free node quadratically reduce the lifetime of a dark state or bright state, enabling highly sensitive interferometric detection. All results rely on analytically solvable models and are compatible with current superconducting and nanophotonic platforms, offering a practical route to passive, geometry-controlled non-Markovian devices.
