Efficient hidden-variable simulation of measurements in quantum experiments.

ABSTRACT

We prove that the results of a finite set of general quantum measurements on an arbitrary dimensional quantum system can be simulated using a polynomial (in measurements) number of hidden-variable states. In the limit of infinitely many measurements, our method gives models with the minimal number of hidden-variable states, which scales linearly with the number of measurements. These results can find applications in foundations of quantum theory, complexity studies, and classical simulations of quantum systems.