Related papers: Positive thinking: A search for energy conditions
The weak energy condition is known to fail in general when applied to expectation values of the the energy momentum tensor in flat space quantum field theory. It is shown how the usual counter arguments against its validity are no longer…
I show that a quantized Klein-Gordon field in Minkowski space obeys an `operational' weak energy condition: the energy of an isolated device constructed to measure or trap the energy in a region, plus the energy it measures or traps, cannot…
In this paper the averaged weak (AWEC) and averaged null (ANEC) energy conditions, together with uncertainty principle-type restrictions on negative energy (``quantum inequalities''), are examined in the context of evaporating black hole…
The averaged null energy condition has been recently shown to hold for linear quantum fields in a large class of spacetimes. Nevertheless, it is easy to show by using a simple scaling argument that ANEC as stated cannot hold generically in…
We establish a connection between the averaged null energy condition (ANEC) and the monotonicity of the renormalization group, by studying the light-ray operator $\int du T_{uu}$ in quantum field theories that flow between two conformal…
The Quantum Null Energy Condition (QNEC) is a new local energy condition that a general Quantum Field Theory (QFT) is believed to satisfy, relating the classical null energy condition (NEC) to the second functional derivative of the…
The Averaged Null Energy Condition (ANEC) requires that the average along a complete null geodesic of the projection of the stress-energy tensor onto the geodesic tangent vector can never be negative. It is sufficient to rule out many…
Three very recent articles have claimed that it is possible to, at least in theory, either set up positive energy warp drives satisfying the weak energy condition (WEC), or at the very least, to minimize the WEC violations. These claims are…
In general relativity, the energy conditions are invoked to restrict general energy-momentum tensors $T_{\mu\nu}$ in different frameworks, and to derive general results that hold in a variety of general contexts on physical grounds. We show…
The null energy condition (NEC), an important assumption of the Penrose singularity theorem, is violated by quantum fields. The natural generalization of the NEC in quantum field theory, the renormalized null energy averaged over a finite…
We study the compatibility of the AdS/CFT duality with the bulk and boundary causality, and derive a conformally invariant averaged null energy condition (CANEC) for quantum field theories in 3 and 5-dimensional curved boundaries. This is…
Quantum fields can notoriously violate the null energy condition (NEC). In a cosmological context, NEC violation can lead to, e.g., dark energy at late times with an equation-of-state parameter smaller than $-1$ and nonsingular bounces at…
Considerable interest has recently been expressed regarding the issue of whether or not quantum field theory on a fixed but curved background spacetime satisfies the averaged null energy condition (ANEC). A comment by Wald and Yurtsever…
The classical energy conditions are known to not be fundamental physics -- they are typically violated by semiclassical quantum effects. Consequently, some effort has gone into finding possible semiclassical replacements for the classical…
It is shown that the averaged null energy condition is fulfilled for a dense, translationally invariant set of vector states in any local quantum field theory in two-dimensional Minkowski spacetime whenever the theory has a mass gap and…
We prove a conjectured lower bound on $\left< T_{--}(x) \right>_\psi$ in any state $\psi$ of a relativistic QFT dubbed the Quantum Null Energy Condition (QNEC). The bound is given by the second order shape deformation, in the null…
Using Visser's semi-analytical model for the stress-energy tensor corresponding to the conformally coupled massless scalar field in the Unruh vacuum, we examine, by explicitly evaluating the relevant integrals over half-complete geodesics,…
The energy conditions play an important role in the understanding of several properties of the Universe, including the current accelerating expansion phase and the possible existence of the so-called phantom fields. We show that the…
A null line is a complete achronal null geodesic. It is proven that for any quantum fields minimally coupled to semiclassical Einstein gravity, the averaged null energy condition (ANEC) on null lines is a consequence of the generalized…
The classic singularity theorems of General Relativity rely on energy conditions that can be violated in semiclassical gravity. Here, we provide motivation for an energy condition obeyed by semiclassical gravity: the smeared null energy…