Related papers: Gravitational vacuum polarization
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…
Recent progress in table-top experiments offers the opportunity to show for the first time that gravity is not compatible with a classical description. In all current experimental proposals, such as the generation of gravitationally induced…
This article will summarize selected aspects of the semiclassical theory of gravity, which involves a classical gravitational field coupled to quantum matter fields. Among the issues which will be discussed are the role of quantum effects…
The classical energy conditions, originally motivated by the Penrose-Hawking singularity theorems of general relativity, are violated by quantum fields. A reminiscent notion of such conditions are the so called quantum energy inequalities…
We establish analogues of the Hawking and Penrose singularity theorems based on (a) averaged energy conditions with exponential damping; (b) conditions on local stress-energy averages inspired by the Quantum Energy Inequalities satisfied by…
The Einstein equation in a semi-classical approximation is applied to a spherical region of the universe, with the stress-energy tensor consisting of the mass density and pressure of the LambdaCDM cosmological model plus an additional…
The energy conditions of Einstein gravity (classical general relativity) do not require one to fix a specific equation of state. In a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe where the equation of state for the cosmological fluid is uncertain,…
In quantum gravity theories Planckian behavior is triggered by the energy of {\it elementary} particles approaching the Planck energy, $E_P$, but it's also possible that anomalous behavior strikes systems of particles with total energy near…
Quantum field theory violates all the classical energy conditions of general relativity. Nonetheless, it turns out that quantum field theories satisfy remnants of the classical energy conditions, known as Quantum Energy Inequalities (QEIs),…
In isotropic loop quantum cosmology, non-perturbatively modified dynamics of a minimally coupled scalar field violates weak, strong and dominant energy conditions when they are stated in terms of equation of state parameter. The violation…
A argument is described for how deformed or doubly special relativity may arise in the semiclassical limit of a quantum theory of gravity. We consider a generic quantum theory of gravity coupled to matter, from which we use only the…
A decade ago, it was shown that a wide class of scalar-tensor theories can pass very restrictive weak field tests of gravity and yet exhibit non-perturbative strong field deviations away from General Relativity. This phenomenon was called…
One of the most difficult questions in present-day physics concerns a fundamental theory of space, time, and matter that incorporates a consistent quantum description of gravity. There are various theoretical approaches to such a…
The basic idea that gravity can be a long-wavelength effect {\it induced} by the peculiar ground state of an underlying quantum field theory leads to consider the implications of spontaneous symmetry breaking through an elementary scalar…
We consider the so-called semiclassical variant of general relativity, where gravitational field is not quantized but matter is quantized, for the simplest composite quantum body - a hydrogen atom. We create a stationary electron quantum…
The expected stress-energy tensor <T_{ab}> of quantum fields generically violates the local positive energy conditions of general relativity. However, <T_{ab}> may satisfy some nonlocal conditions such as the averaged null energy condition…
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…
In the presence of an electromagnetic (EM) field the space-time metrics are affected by the field potential. The principle of superposition, which usually rules EM fields, is no longer valid for the biggest fields and Maxwell's equations,…
Observational indications combined with analyses of analogue and emergent gravity in condensed matter systems support the possibility that there might be two distinct energy scales related to quantum gravity: the scale that sets the onset…
We obtain two-sided bounds on kinetic and potential energies of a bound state of a quantum particle in the semiclassical limit, as the Planck constant $\hbar\ri 0$. Proofs of these results rely on the generalized virial theorem obtained in…