Abstract. We discuss the Clauser–Horne (CH) inequality for electrons in mesoscopic systems formulated in terms of the full counting statistics (FCS). A derivation of such an inequality is provided for a prototype setup consisting of an entangler attached to two conducting wires, that brings pairs of spin-entangled electrons into spatially separated counters, where detection takes place. Violation of the CH inequality is analysed as a function of the various parameters characterizing the system. The effect of dephasing, which can occur in realistic wires, is also addressed. As expected, the extent of violation is monotonically suppressed by increasing dephasing strength. The CH inequality is finally applied to a three-arm normal-metallic beam splitter. Our results show that violation takes place even in the absence of interaction.

Received 7 June 2005
Published 26 August 2005