Related papers: A note on the averaged null energy condition in qu…
In the context of Einstein gravity, if the null energy condition (NEC) is satisfied, the energy density in expanding space-times always decreases while in contracting space-times the energy density grows and the universe eventually…
As Einstein's gravity is a non-renormalizable theory, it can be a good description of physics only at the scales of energy or spacetime curvature below the Planck mass. Moreover, it requires the presence of an infinite tower of…
There are a number of reasons to study wormholes with generic cosmological constant $\Lambda$. Recent observations indicate that present accelerating expansion of the universe demands $\Lambda>0$. On the other hand, some extended theories…
Quantum fields are known to violate all the pointwise energy conditions of classical general relativity. We review the subject of quantum energy inequalities: lower bounds satisfied by weighted averages of the stress-energy tensor, which…
We present the first analysis of traversable wormhole solutions within the framework of Einstein-aether theory. We show that the corresponding field equations admit three distinct wormhole geometries, obtained by adopting three different…
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…
We study the effects of conservation laws on wormholes that are made traversable by a double trace deformation. After coupling the two asymptotic boundaries of a maximally extended $(d+1)$ dimensional black brane geometry with $U(1)$…
In quadratic gravity, the junction conditions are six and permit the appearance of double layer thin shells. Double layers arise typically in theories with dipoles, i.e., two opposite charges, such as electromagnetic theories, and appear…
We construct a particular class of quantum states for a massless, minimally coupled free scalar field which are of the form of a superposition of the vacuum and multi-mode two-particle states. These states can exhibit local negative energy…
Eternal inflation is shown to require violations of the Null Energy Condition (NEC) on superhorizon scales. With light scalar fields as the matter sources in a de Sitter background, there can be no classical or semiclassical violations of…
A non-singular cosmological bounce in the Einstein frame can only take place if the Null Energy Condition (NEC) is violated. We explore situations where a single scalar field drives the NEC violation and derive the constraints imposed by…
In this thesis, we investigate traversable wormhole spacetimes within the context of a covariant generalization of Einstein's General Relativity, namely the energy-momentum squared gravity, denoted as $f\left(R,T_{ab}T^{ab}\right)$. Here,…
It has been suggested that a possible candidate for the present accelerated expansion of the Universe is ''phantom energy''. The latter possesses an equation of state of the form $\omega\equiv p/\rho<-1$, consequently violating the null…
A common assumption in quantum field theory is that the energy-momentum 4-vector of any quantum state must be timelike. It will be proven that this is not the case for a Dirac-Maxwell field. In this case quantum states can be shown to exist…
The stress energy tensor for the classical non-minimally coupled scalar field is known not to satisfy the point-wise energy conditions of general relativity. In this paper we show, however, that local averages of the classical stress energy…
In this paper we discuss local averages of the energy density for the non-minimally coupled scalar quantum field, extending a previous investigation of the classical field. By an explicit example, we show that such averages are unbounded…
We discuss a proposal on how gravitational collapse of a NEC (Null Energy Condition) violating spherically symmetric fluid distribution can avoid the formation of a zero proper volume singularity and eventually lead to a Lorentzian wormhole…
A class of spacetimes (comprising the Alcubierre bubble, Krasnikov tube, and a certain type of wormholes) is considered that admits `superluminal travel' in a strictly defined sense. Such spacetimes (they are called `shortcuts' in this…
The quantized Dirac field is known, by a result of Fewster and Verch, to satisfy a Quantum Weak Energy Inequality (QWEI) on its averaged energy density along time-like curves in arbitrary four-dimensional globally hyperbolic spacetimes.…
We consider the evolution of traversable wormhole geometries in the inflationary, radiation -- and matter -- dominated eras, and dynamic wormholes with a traceless energy-momentum tensor (EMT), within the recently proposed {\it pole dark…