Semiclassical energy conditions and wormholes

TL;DR

This paper explores semiclassical energy conditions and their quantum extensions, highlighting their improved behavior over classical conditions and their implications for the existence of wormholes supported by controlled energy condition violations.

Contribution

It introduces quantum extensions of energy conditions that better accommodate semiclassical effects and discusses their role in constraining wormhole-supporting matter.

Findings

Quantum extensions behave better than classical energy conditions with quantum effects.

Linear quantum energy conditions are not always satisfied but help constrain violations.

Wormholes can be supported by fluids that violate classical conditions in a controlled manner.

Abstract

We consider the nonlinear energy conditions and their quantum extensions. These new energy conditions behave much better than the usual pointwise energy conditions in the presence of semiclassical quantum effects. Analogous quantum extensions for the linear energy conditions are not always satisfied as one enters the quantum realm, but they can be used to constrain the violation of the classical conditions. Thus, the existence of wormholes supported by a fluid which violates the null energy condition in a controlled way is of particular interest.