Scale anomalies imply violation of the averaged null energy condition
Abstract
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.
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