Related papers: The Quantum Null Energy Condition in Curved Space
We explore consequences of the Averaged Null Energy Condition (ANEC) for scaling dimensions $\Delta$ of operators in four-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=1$ superconformal field theories. We show that in many cases the ANEC bounds are stronger…
A finite volume allows tunnelling between degenerate vacua in Quantum Field Theory, and leads to remarkable energetic features, arising from the competition of different saddle points in the partition function. We describe this competition…
Starting with a static, spherically symmetric spacetime incorporating critical (unstable) closed null geodesics, a family of models for equilibrium states of non-isolated compact objects is obtained by solving the Einstein equations for an…
We study energy conditions for non-timelike thin shells in arbitrary $n(\ge 3)$ dimensions. It is shown that the induced energy-momentum tensor $t_{\mu\nu}$ on a shell $\Sigma$ is of the Hawking-Ellis type I if $\Sigma$ is spacelike and…
We analyze the vacuum fluctuations and the stress-energy tensor of a scalar field of mass $M$ in a conical spacetime, where the topological singularity at the apex requires boundary conditions for the field equation. The necessity of…
It is well known that boundary conditions on quantum fields produce divergences in the renormalized energy-momentum tensor near the boundaries. Although irrelevant for the computation of Casimir forces between different bodies, the…
We present and develop several nonlinear energy conditions suitable for use in the semiclassical regime. In particular, we consider the recently formulated "flux energy condition" (FEC), and the novel "trace-of-square" (TOSEC) and…
General quantum gravity arguments predict that Lorentz symmetry might not hold exactly in nature. This has motivated much interest in Lorentz breaking gravity theories recently. Among such models are vector-tensor theories with preferred…
Energy is at best defined quasilocally in general relativity. Quasilocal energy definitions depend on the conditions one imposes on the boundary Hamiltonian, i.e., how a finite region of spacetime is "isolated". Here, we propose a method to…
Various properties of the Misner-Sharp spherically symmetric gravitational energy E are established or reviewed. In the Newtonian limit of a perfect fluid, E yields the Newtonian mass to leading order and the Newtonian kinetic and potential…
We argue that calculating vacuum energy requires quantum field theory whose axioms are adapted to curved spacetime. In this context, we suggest that non-zero vacuum energy is connected to dynamical breaking of electroweak symmetry. The…
Traversable topological bridges traditionally require exotic matter, violating the Null Energy Condition (NEC). This essay investigates whether matter-vacuum coupling can circumvent this necessity. Focusing on zero-tidal-force solutions, we…
We present a consistent effective theory that violates the null energy condition (NEC) without developing any instabilities or other pathological features. The model is the ghost condensate with the global shift symmetry softly broken by a…
The Equivalence Principle (EP), stating that all physical systems are connected by a coordinate transformation to the free one with vanishing energy, univocally leads to the Quantum Stationary HJ Equation (QSHJE). Trajectories depend on the…
Field theories which violate the null energy condition (NEC) are of interest for the solution of the cosmological singularity problem and for models of cosmological dark energy with the equation of state parameter $w<-1$. We discuss the…
Motivated by the apparent discrepancy between Cosmic Microwave Background measurements of the Hubble constant and measurements from Type-Ia supernovae, we construct a model for Dark Energy with equation of state $w = p / \rho < -1$,…
We calculate the effects of quantum fluctuations of a scalar field in the "ballpoint pen" cosmic string geometry. Using the approach to renormalization established previously for the energy density in two space dimensions, we extend those…
Given a Cauchy surface in a curved spacetime and a suitably defined quantum state on the CCR algebra of the Klein-Gordon quantum field on that surface, we show, by expanding the squared spacetime geodesic distance and the `$U$' and `$V$'…
For every local quantum field theory on a static, globally hyperbolic spacetime of arbitrary dimension, assuming the Reeh-Schlieder property, local preparability of states, and the existence of an energy density as operator-valued…
Quantum gravity is studied nonperturbatively in the case in which space has a boundary with finite area. A natural set of boundary conditions is studied in the Euclidean signature theory, in which the pullback of the curvature to the…