Bell's Theorem without Hidden Variables *

Experiments motivated by Bell’s theorem suggest that information is sometimes transferred over spacelike intervals, and claims have been made that the results of these experiments do have this implication. However, the theoretical basis for such claims is usually taken to be Bell’s Theorem, which shows only that if certain predictions of quantum theory are correct, and certain hidden-variables assumptions about the nature of physical reality are valid, then information must be transferred over spacelike intervals. The experimental results do conform closely to the predictions of quantum theory in these cases, but the most natural conclusion to draw is not that information is transferred over spacelike intervals, but rather that the hidden-variable assumption is not valid. For the existence of such hidden variables would directly contradict the precepts of quantum philosophy. To reach the more profound conclusion that information is sometimes transferred over spacelike intervals one would need a much stronger theorem, one that would be based on, and preserve, the orthodox precepts of quantum theory, rather than contradicting them. A theorem is of this kind ∗This work was supported in part by the Director, Office of Science, Office of High Energy and Nuclear Physics, of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC03-