2006/04/30 by S P Dawson, C J Fewster · 2 citations
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Geometric Analysis and Curvature Flows #Quantum Electrodynamics and Casimir Effect #gr-qc
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/0264-9381/23/23/005
published as Class.Quant.Grav.23:6659-6681,2006 · 24 pages, 0 figures
openalex publication_date 2006/10/19 · arxiv created 2006/10/31 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
The quantized Dirac field is known, by a result of Fewster and Verch, to satisfy a quantum weak energy inequality (QWEI) on its averaged energy density along timelike curves in arbitrary four-dimensional globally hyperbolic spacetimes. However, this result does not provide an explicit form for the bound. By adapting ideas from the earlier work, we give a simplified derivation of a QWEI for the Dirac field leading to an explicit bound. The bound simplifies further in the case of static curves in static spacetimes, and, in particular, coincides with a result of Fewster and Mistry in four-dimensional Minkowski spacetime. We also show that our QWEI is compatible with local covariance and derive a simple consequence.