General Relativity Seminar

Speaker: Chris Fewster, York University

Title: Quantum Energy Inequalities

Abstract: Many theorems of mathematical relativity, including singularity and positive mass theorems, include the classical energy conditions among their hypotheses. However, matter described by quantum field theory can violate the classical energy conditions and indeed there is no lower bound to the energy density at a given point as the quantum state is varied. Do the classical theorems apply to quantised matter?

In this talk I discuss Quantum Energy Inequalities, lower bounds on averages of the energy density along timelike curves or over spacetime regions, that have been proved in QFT and are the remnants of the classical energy conditions after quantisation. I will also discuss some of their consequences.