Wormhole and time machine are very interesting objects in general relativity. However, they need exotic matters which are impossible in classical level to support them. But if we introduce the quantum effects of gravity into the stress-energy tensor, these peculiar objects can be constructed self-consistently. Fortunately, loop quantum cosmology (LQC) has the potential to serve as a bridge connecting the classical theory and quantum gravity. Therefore it provides a simple way for the study of quantum effect in the semiclassical case. As is well known, loop quantum cosmology is very successful to deal with the behavior of early universe. In the early stage, if taken the quantum effect into consideration, inflation is natural because of the violation of every kind of local energy conditions. Similar to the inflationary universe, the violation of the averaged null energy condition is the necessary condition for the traversable wormholes. In this paper, we investigate the averaged null energy condition in LQC in the framework of effective Hamiltonian, and find out that LQC do violate the averaged null energy condition in the massless scalar field coupled model.
The Averaged Null Energy Condition (ANEC) states that the integral along a complete null geodesic of the projection of the stress-energy tensor onto the tangent vector to the geodesic cannot be negative. Exotic spacetimes, such as those allow wormholes or the construction of time machines are possible in general relativity only if ANEC is violated along achronal geodesics. Starting from a conjecture that flat-space quantum inequalities apply with small corrections in spacetimes with small curvature, we prove that ANEC is obeyed by a minimally-coupled, free quantum scalar field on any achronal …
Recently, Larry Ford and Tom Roman have discovered that in a flat cylindrical space, although the stress-energy tensor itself fails to satisfy the averaged null energy condition (ANEC) along the (non-achronal) null geodesics, when the ``Casimir-vacuum" contribution is subtracted from the stress-energy the resulting tensor does satisfy the ANEC inequality. Ford and Roman name this class of constraints on the quantum stress-energy tensor ``difference inequalities." Here I give a proof of the difference inequality for a minimally coupled massless scalar field in an arbitrary two-dimensional space…
We show that the averaged null energy condition can be violated by a conformally coupled scalar field in a conformally flat spacetime in 3+1 dimensions. The violation is dependent on the quantum state and can be made as large as desired. It does not arise from the presence of anomalies, although anomalous violations are also possible. Since all geodesics in conformally flat spacetimes are achronal, the achronal averaged null energy condition is likewise violated.
Recently it was shown that folded strings are spontaneously created behind the horizon of the $SL(2,\mathbb{R})_k/U(1)$ black hole. Here we show that these folded strings violate the averaged null energy condition {\it macroscopically}. We discuss possible consequences of this observation on black hole physics in general, and on the information puzzle in particular.
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 the generalization of the averaged null energy condition (ANEC) in Minkowski spacetime to curved boundaries, where null energy is averaged along the null line with appropriate weight for conformal invariance. For this purpose we take, as our guiding principle, the no-bulk-shortcut theorem of Gao and Wald, which essentially asserts that when going from one poi…
The averaged null energy condition has known violations for quantum fields in curved space, even if one considers only achronal geodesics. Many such examples involve rapid variation in the stress-energy tensor in the vicinity of the geodesic under consideration, giving rise to the possibility that averaging in additional dimensions would yield a principle universally obeyed by quantum fields. However, after discussing various procedures for additional averaging, including integrating over all dimensions of the manifold, we give a class of examples that violate any such averaged condition.
We prove the achronal averaged null energy condition for general quantum field theories in the near horizon geometry of spherical extremal black holes (i.e. ${{\rm AdS}_2\times S^{d-2}}$), de Sitter and anti-de Sitter. The derivation follows from monotonicity of relative entropy after computing the modular hamiltonian of a null deformed region. For incomplete (but maximally extended) achronal null geodesics in ${\rm AdS}_2\times S^{d-2}$, we prove the positivity of a different light-ray operator for arbitrary CFTs. This agrees with a constraint recently derived for the Lorentzian cylinder.
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 curved four-dimensional spacetime, and this scaling argument has been widely interpreted as a death-blow for averaged energy conditions in quantum field theory. In this note I propose a simple generalization of ANEC, in which the right-hand-side of the ANEC inequality is replaced by a finite (but in general negative) state-independent lower bound. As long as…
For the quantised, massless, minimally coupled real scalar field in four-dimensional Minkowski space, we show (by an explicit construction) that weighted averages of the null-contracted stress-energy tensor along null geodesics are unbounded from below on the class of Hadamard states. Thus there are no quantum inequalities along null geodesics in four-dimensional Minkowski spacetime. This is in contrast to the case for two-dimensional flat spacetime, where such inequalities do exist. We discuss in detail the properties of the quantum states used in our analysis, and also show that the renormal…
The averaged null energy conditions (ANEC) states that, along a complete null curve, the negative energy fluctuations of a quantum field must be balanced by positive energy fluctuations. We use the AdS/CFT correspondence to prove the ANEC for a class of strongly coupled conformal field theories in flat spacetime. A violation of the ANEC in the field theory would lead to acausal propagation of signals in the bulk.
Quantum inequalities are constraints on how negative the weighted average of the renormalized stress-energy tensor of a quantum field can be. A null-projected quantum inequality can be used to prove the averaged null energy condition (ANEC), which would then rule out exotic phenomena such as wormholes and time machines. In this work we derive such an inequality for a massless minimally coupled scalar field, working to first order of the Riemann tensor and its derivatives. We then use this inequality to prove ANEC on achronal geodesics in a curved background that obeys the null convergence cond…
The averaged null energy condition (ANEC) requires that the integral over a complete null geodesic of the stress-energy tensor projected onto the geodesic tangent vector is never negative. This condition is sufficient to prove many important theorems in general relativity, but it is violated by quantum fields in curved spacetime. However there is a weaker condition, which is free of known violations, requiring only that there is no self-consistent space-time in semiclassical gravity in which ANEC is violated on a complete, {\em achronal} null geodesic. We indicate why such a condition might be…
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 [Phys. Rev. D43, 403 (1991)] indicates that in general the answer is no. In this note I explore this issue in more detail, and succeed in characterizing a broad class of spacetimes in which the ANEC is guaranteed to be violated. Finally, I add some comments regarding ANEC violation in Schwarzschild spacetime.
The characteristic formalism of numerical relativity is based on a system of coordinates aligned with outgoing null cones. While these coordinates were designed for studying gravitational waves, they can also be easily adapted to model cosmological past null cones (PNCs). Similar to observational coordinates in the observational approach to cosmology, this then provides a model that only makes use of information causally connected to an observer. However, the diameter distance, which is used as a radial coordinate, limits the model's cosmological application to the region prior to the PNC refo…
We consider averaged null energy conditions (ANEC) for strongly coupled quantum field theories in even (two and four) dimensional curved spacetimes by applying the no-bulk-shortcut principle in the context of the AdS/CFT duality. In the same context but in odd-dimensions, the present authors previously derived a conformally invariant averaged null energy condition (CANEC), which is a version of the ANEC with a certain weight function for conformal invariance. In even-dimensions, however, one has to deal with gravitational conformal anomalies, which make relevant formulas much more complicated …
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 second law of thermodynamics for causal horizons. Auxiliary assumptions include CPT and the existence of a suitable renormalization scheme for the generalized entropy. Although the ANEC can be violated on general geodesics in curved spacetimes, as long as the ANEC holds on null lines there exist theorems showing that semiclassical gravity should satisfy positivi…
The Hubble tension cast a blight on the standard cosmology. As a possible attitude to the problem, the local variation of the expansion rate in an inhomogeneous cosmology has been proposed where the spatial averaging over a finite domain was introduced in order to construct local Friedmann spacetime. However, it is not clear that the concept of the spatial averaging itself is gauge invariant or not. Namely the conclusion obtained by the averaging in a particular gauge is physically meaningful or not. In this paper we address this question, namely the gauge invariance of the spatial averaging i…
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 possesses an energy-momentum tensor. The latter is assumed to be a Wightman field which is local relative to the observables, generates locally the translations, is divergence-free, and energetically bounded. Thus the averaged null energy condition can be deduced from completely generic, standard assumptions for general quantum field theory in two-dimensional f…
This preliminary report proposes integrating the Maxwell equations in Minkowski spacetime using coordinates where the spacelike surfaces are hyperboloids asymptotic to null cones at spatial infinity. The space coordinates are chosen so that Scri+ occurs at a finite coordinate and a smooth extension beyond Scri+ is obtained. The question addressed is whether a Cauchy evolution numerical integration program can be easily modified to compute this evolution. In the spirit of the von Neumann and Richtmyer artificial viscosity which thickens a shock by many orders of magnitude to facilitate numerica…
The calculation of the averaged Hubble expansion rate in an averaged perturbed Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker cosmology leads to small corrections to the background value of the expansion rate, which could be important for measuring the Hubble constant from local observations. It also predicts an intrinsic variance associated with the finite scale of any measurement of H_0, the Hubble rate today. Both the mean Hubble rate and its variance depend on both the definition of the Hubble rate and the spatial surface on which the average is performed. We quantitatively study different definition…
This work provides a general discussion of the spatially inhomogeneous Lemaître-Tolman-Bondi (LTB) cosmology, as well as its basic properties and many useful relevant quantities, such as the cosmological distances. We apply the concept of the single null geodesic to produce some simple analytical solutions for observational quantities such as the redshift. As an application of the single null geodesic technique, we carry out a fractal approach to the parabolic LTB model, comparing it to the spatially homogeneous Einstein-de Sitter cosmology. The results obtained indicate that the standard mode…
We examine the averaged null energy condition~(ANEC) for strongly coupled fields, along the event horizon of an evaporating black hole by using the AdS/CFT duality. First, we consider a holographic model of a $3$-dimensional evaporating black hole with a perturbed 4-dimensional black droplet geometry as the bulk dual, and investigate how negative energy flux going into the boundary black hole horizon appears. We show that the ingoing negative energy flux always appears at the boundary black hole horizon when the horizon area decreases. Second, we test the ANEC in a holographic model of a $4$-d…
For the description of the early inflation, and acceleration expansion of the Universe, compatible with observational data, the 5D noncompact Kaluza--Klein cosmology is investigated. It is proposed that the 5D space is filled with a null perfect fluid, resulting a perfect fluid in 4D universe, plus one along the fifth dimension. By analyzing the reduced field equations for flat FRW model, we show the early inflationary behavior and current acceleration of the universe.
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 exotic phenomena in general relativity. Subject to certain conditions, we show that the ANEC can never be violated by a quantized minimally coupled free scalar field along a complete null geodesic surrounded by a tubular neighborhood in which the geometry is flat and whose intrinsic causal structure coincides with that induced from the full spacetime. In particul…
We show how higher derivatives of the expansion factor can be developed into a null diagnostic for concordance cosmology (LCDM). It is well known that the Statefinder -- the third derivative of the expansion factor written in dimensionless form, a^{(3)}/aH^3, equals unity for LCDM. We generalize this result to higher derivatives of the expansion factor and demonstrate that the hierarchy, a^{(n)}/aH^n, can be converted to a form that stays pegged at unity in concordance cosmology. This remarkable property of the Statefinder hierarchy enables it to be used as an extended null diagnostic for the …
This paper presents a general averaging procedure for a set of observers which are tilted with respect to the cosmological matter fluid. After giving the full set of equations describing the local dynamics, we define the averaging procedure and apply it to the scalar parts of Einstein's field equations. In addition to the standard backreaction, new terms appear that account for the effect of the peculiar velocity of the matter fluid as well as the possible effect of a shift in the coordinate system.
Unitary, Lorentz-invariant quantum field theories in flat spacetime obey microcausality: commutators vanish at spacelike separation. For interacting theories in more than two dimensions, we show that this implies that the averaged null energy, $\int du T_{uu}$, must be positive. This non-local operator appears in the operator product expansion of local operators in the lightcone limit, and therefore contributes to $n$-point functions. We derive a sum rule that isolates this contribution and is manifestly positive. The argument also applies to certain higher spin operators other than the stress…
The universe is not isotropic or spatially homogeneous on local scales. The averaging of local inhomogeneities in general relativity can lead to significant dynamical effects on the evolution of the universe and on the interpretation of cosmological data. In particular, all deductions about cosmology are based on light paths; averaging can have an important effect on photon propagation and hence cosmological observations. It would be desirable to describe the physical effects of averaging in terms of observational quantities and focussing on the behaviour of light. Data (e.g., matter terms, su…
The Averaged Null Energy Condition (ANEC) states that the integral along a complete null geodesic of the projection of the stress-energy tensor onto the tangent vector to the geodesic cannot be negative. ANEC can be used to rule out spacetimes with exotic phenomena, such as closed timelike curves, superluminal travel and wormholes. We prove that ANEC is obeyed by a minimally-coupled, free quantum scalar field on any achronal null geodesic (not two points can be connected with a timelike curve) surrounded by a tubular neighborhood whose curvature is produced by a classical source. To prove ANEC…
We study modular Hamiltonians corresponding to the vacuum state for deformed half-spaces in relativistic quantum field theories on $\mathbb{R}^{1,d-1}$. We show that in addition to the usual boost generator, there is a contribution to the modular Hamiltonian at first order in the shape deformation, proportional to the integral of the null components of the stress tensor along the Rindler horizon. We use this fact along with monotonicity of relative entropy to prove the averaged null energy condition in Minkowski space-time. This subsequently gives a new proof of the Hofman-Maldacena bounds on …
The negative energy density of Casimir systems appears to violate general relativity energy conditions. However, one cannot test the averaged null energy condition (ANEC) using standard calculations for perfectly reflecting plates, because the null geodesic would have to pass through the plates, where the calculation breaks down. To avoid this problem, we compute the contribution to ANEC for a geodesic that passes through a hole in a single plate. We consider both Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions in two and three space dimensions. We use a Babinet's principle argument to reduce the pr…
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 averaged weak (AWEC) and averaged null (ANEC) energy conditions along with Ford-Roman quantum inequality-type restrictions on negative energy in the context of four dimensional evaporating black hole backgrounds. We find that in all cases where the averaged energy conditions fail, there exist quantum inequality bounds on the magnitude and duration of neg…
Recently, a de-Sitter epoch has been found in the new model of loop quantum cosmology which is governed by the scalar constraint with both of Euclidean and Lorentz terms. The singularity free bounce in the new LQC model and the emergent cosmology constant strongly suggest that the effective stress energy tensor induced by quantum corrections must violate the standard energy conditions. In this paper, we do an explicit calculation to analyze the behaviours of specific representative energy conditions, i.e., average null, strong and dominant energy conditions. It turns out that the averaging nul…
The prospect of nonparametric reconstructions of cosmological parameters from observational data sets has been a popular topic in the literature for a number of years. This has mainly taken the form of a technique based on Gaussian processes but this approach is exposed to several foundational issues ranging from overfitting to kernel consistency problems. In this work, we explore the possibility of using artificial neural networks (ANN) to reconstruct late-time expansion and large scale structure cosmological parameters. We first show how mock data can be used to design an optimal ANN for bot…
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 consistency of two recently proposed models that violate the NEC. The ghost condensate model requires higher-order derivative terms in the action. It leads to a heavy ghost field and unbounded energy. We estimate the rates of particles decay and discuss possible mass limitations to protect stability of matter in the ghost condensate model. The nonlocal stringy …
Symmetries play an interesting role in cosmology. They are useful in characterizing the cosmological perturbations generated during inflation and lead to consistency relations involving the soft limit of the statistical correlators of large-scale structure dark matter and galaxies overdensities. On the other hand, in observational cosmology the carriers of the information about these large-scale statistical distributions are light rays traveling on null geodesics. Motivated by this simple consideration, we study the structure of null infinity and the associated BMS symmetry in a cosmological s…
We calculate the 1-loop effect in super-Yang-Mills which preserves 1/4-supersymmetries and is holographically dual to the null-like cosmology with a big-bang singularity. Though the bosonic and fermionic spectra do not agree precisely, we do obtain vanishing 1-loop vacuum energy for generic warped plane-wave type backgrounds with a big-bang singularity. Moreover, we find that the cosmological "constant" contributed either by bosons or fermions is time-dependent. The issues about the particle production of some background and about the UV structure are also commented. We argue that the effectiv…
In discussions of Bousso's Covariant Entropy Bound, the Null Energy Condition is always assumed, as a sufficient {\em but not necessary} condition which helps to ensure that the entropy on any lightsheet shall necessarily be finite. The spectacular failure of the Strong Energy Condition in cosmology has, however, led many astrophysicists and cosmologists to consider models of dark energy which violate {\em all} of the energy conditions, and indeed the current data do not completely rule out such models. The NEC also has a questionable status in brane cosmology: it is probably necessary to viol…
If the observed dark energy is a cosmological constant, the canonical state of the universe is de Sitter spacetime. In such a spacetime, quantum fluctuations that violate the null energy condition will create islands of matter that, if large enough, may resemble our observable universe. Phenomenological approaches to calculating density fluctuations yield a scale invariant spectrum with suitable amplitude. With time, the island of matter that is our observable universe, re-enters the cosmological constant sea.
We discuss the construction of cosmological models within the framework of Macroscopic Gravity (MG), which is a theory that models the effects of averaging the geometry of space-time on large scales. We find new exact spatially homogeneous and isotropic FLRW solutions to the MG field equations, and investigate large-scale perturbations around them. We find that any inhomogeneous perturbations to the averaged geometry are severely restricted, but that possible anisotropies in the correlation tensor can have dramatic consequences for the measurement of distances. These calculations are a first s…
A new perspective on the Cosmological Constant Problem (CCP) is proposed and discussed within the multiverse approach of Quantum Cosmology. It is assumed that each member of the ensemble of universes has a characteristic scale $a$ that can be used as integration variable in the partition function. An averaged characteristic scale of the ensemble is estimated by using only members that satisfy the Einstein field equations. The averaged characteristic scale is compatible with the Planck length when considering an ensemble of solutions to the Einstein field equations with an effective cosmologica…
Averaged inhomogeneous cosmologies lie at the forefront of interest, since cosmological parameters like the rate of expansion or the mass density are to be considered as volume-averaged quantities and only these can be compared with observations. For this reason the relevant parameters are intrinsically scale-dependent and one wishes to control this dependence without restricting the cosmological model by unphysical assumptions. In the latter respect we contrast our way to approach the averaging problem in relativistic cosmology with shortcomings of averaged Newtonian models. Explicitly, we in…
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 (ANEC), which would rule out traversable wormholes. Although ANEC holds in Minkowski spacetime, it can be violated in curved spacetimes if one is allowed to choose the spacetime and quantum state arbitrarily, without imposition of the semiclassical Einstein equation G_{ab} = 8 π<T_{ab}>. In this paper we investigate whether ANEC holds for solutions to this e…
The current cosmological model ($Λ$CDM) with the underlying FLRW metric relies on the assumption of local isotropy, hence homogeneity of the Universe. Difficulties arise when one attempts to justify this model as an average description of the Universe from first principles of general relativity, since in general, the Einstein tensor built from the averaged metric is not equal to the averaged stress--energy tensor. In this context, the discrepancy between these quantities is called "cosmological backreaction" and has been the subject of scientific debate among cosmologists and relativists for m…
Extending the study of spherically symmetric metrics satisfying the dominant energy condition and exhibiting singularities of power-law type initiated in SI93, we identify two classes of peculiar interest: focusing timelike singularity solutions with the stress-energy tensor of a radiative perfect fluid (equation of state: $p={1\over 3} ρ$) and a set of null singularity classes verifying identical properties. We consider two important applications of these results: to cosmology, as regards the possibility of solving the horizon problem with no need to resort to any inflationary scenario, and t…
In gauge/gravity duality, points which are not causally related on the boundary cannot be causally related through the bulk; this is the statement of boundary causality. By the Gao-Wald theorem, the averaged null energy condition in the bulk is sufficient to ensure this property. Here we proceed in the converse direction: we derive a necessary as well as sufficient condition for the preservation of boundary causality under perturbative (quantum or stringy) corrections to the bulk. The condition that we find is a (background-dependent) constraint on the amount by which light cones can "open" ov…
We perform null tests of the concordance model, using $H(z)$ measurements that mimic next-generation surveys such as Euclid and the SKA. To this end, we deploy a non-parametric method, so that we make minimal assumptions about the fiducial cosmology as well as the statistical analysis. We produce simulations assuming different cosmological models in order to verify how well we can distinguish between their signatures. We find that SKA- and Euclid-like surveys should be able to discriminate sharply between the concordance and alternative dark energy models that are compatible with the Planck CM…
The present matter density of the Universe, while highly inhomogeneous on small scales, displays approximate homogeneity on large scales. We propose that whereas it is justified to use the Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) line element (which describes an exactly homogeneous and isotropic universe) as a template to construct luminosity distances in order to compare observations with theory, the evolution of the scale factor in such a construction must be governed not by the standard Einstein equations for the FLRW metric, but by the modified Friedmann equations derived by Buchert [7, …
We investigate the convergence behaviors of the scalar and the vector perturbations for a big bounce phase in loop quantum cosmology. Two models are discussed: one is the universe filled by a massless scalar field; the other is a toy model which is radiation-dominated in the asymptotic past and future. We find that the behaviors of the Bardeen potential of the scalar mode near both the bounce point and the transition point of the null energy condition are good, moreover, the unlimited growth of the vector perturbation can be avoided in our bounce model. This is different from the bounce models…
Null infinity in asymptotically flat spacetimes posses a rich mathematical structure; including the BMS group and the Bondi news tensor that allow one to study gravitational radiation rigorously. However, FLRW spacetimes are not asymptotically flat because their stress-energy tensor does not decay sufficiently fast and in fact diverges at null infinity. This class includes matter- and radiation-dominated FLRW spacetimes. We define a class of spacetimes whose structure at null infinity is similar to FLRW spacetimes: the stress-energy tensor is allowed to diverge and the conformal factor is not …
The dynamics of bouncing universes is characterized by violating certain coordinate invariant restrictions on the total energy-momentum tensor, customarily referred to as energy conditions. Although there could be epochs where the null energy condition is locally violated, it may perhaps be enforced in an averaged sense. Explicit examples of this possibility are investigated in different frameworks.
One of the outstanding problems in general relativistic cosmology is that of the averaging. That is, how the lumpy universe that we observe at small scales averages out to a smooth Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) model. The root of the problem is that averaging does not commute with the Einstein equations that govern the dynamics of the model. This leads to the well-know question of backreaction in cosmology. In this work, we approach the problem using the covariant framework of Macroscopic Gravity (MG). We use its cosmological solution with a flat FLRW macroscopic background where …
