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Theories with no superluminal signaling have greater information-processing power than theories with no superluminal causation

V. Vilasini1,2,* and Roger Colbeck3,4,†

  • *Contact author: vilasini@inria.fr
  • †Contact author: roger.colbeck@kcl.ac.uk
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 013070 – Published 22 January, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/h31d-wqyg

Abstract

A central goal in the foundations of physics is to understand the structure of physical theories, such as quantum theory, from physical principles. This is often explored by considering various information-theoretic principles. Here, we initiate a similar approach considering relativistic causality principles. No superluminal causation (NSC) and no superluminal signaling (NSS) are distinct relativistic principles, requiring respectively that causal influence/the ability of agents to signal are within the future lightcone. After formalizing their distinction, we investigate how well theories constrained by NSC and NSS perform in a task that involves generating nonclassical correlations. We find a spacetime configuration in which this task cannot be achieved in any theory (classical, quantum, or postquantum) satisfying NSC. However, we show that theories violating NSC but satisfying NSS can perfectly achieve the task. We give a protocol that would, in a world allowing superluminal causation, enable its operational certification without violating NSS, in general spacetimes. In the case of (1 + 1)-dimensional Minkowski spacetime, the task remains achievable in a configuration where measurement outcomes occur arbitrarily earlier in time than the settings, allowing a form of certifiable retrocausality without violating NSS. We illustrate our results by linking two different types of nonclassical postquantum resources: PR boxes and jamming. Our work offers insights into the role of different relativistic causality principles in fundamental physics and paves the way for characterizing the information-theoretic structure of theories obeying such principles.

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Outline

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 013070– Published 22 January, 2026
  • Received 27 February 2024
  • Revised 25 April 2025
  • Accepted 22 October 2025
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