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Holographic Proof of the Quantum Null Energy Condition

4 Pith papers cite this work. Polarity classification is still indexing.

4 Pith papers citing it
abstract

We use holography to prove the Quantum Null Energy Condition (QNEC) at leading order in large-$N$ for CFTs and relevant deformations of CFTs in Minkowski space which have Einstein gravity duals. Given any codimension-2 surface $\Sigma$ which is locally stationary under a null deformation in the direction $k$ at the point $p$, the QNEC is a lower bound on the energy-momentum tensor at $p$ in terms of the second variation of the entropy to one side of $\Sigma$: $\langle T_{kk}\rangle \geq S"/2\pi \sqrt{h}$. In a CFT, conformal transformations of this inequality give results which apply when $\Sigma$ is not locally stationary. The QNEC was proven previously for free theories, and taken together with our result this provides strong evidence that the QNEC is a true statement about quantum field theory in general.

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hep-th 4

representative citing papers

A general proof of integer R\'enyi QNEC

hep-th · 2026-05-14 · accept · novelty 8.0

Proves integer Rényi QNEC by establishing log-convexity of Kosaki L^n norms under null-translation semigroups for σ-finite von Neumann algebras with half-sided modular inclusions, assuming only finite sandwiched Rényi divergence to the vacuum.

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Showing 4 of 4 citing papers.

  • A general proof of integer R\'enyi QNEC hep-th · 2026-05-14 · accept · none · ref 4 · internal anchor

    Proves integer Rényi QNEC by establishing log-convexity of Kosaki L^n norms under null-translation semigroups for σ-finite von Neumann algebras with half-sided modular inclusions, assuming only finite sandwiched Rényi divergence to the vacuum.

  • No off-diagonal quantum focusing for R\'enyi divergences hep-th · 2026-07-08 · accept · none · ref 4 · internal anchor

    No Rényi-type divergence obeying DPI, tensor additivity and matched cq conditioning admits a universal off-diagonal quantum focusing inequality.

  • Curious QNEIs from QNEC: New Bounds on Null Energy in Quantum Field Theory hep-th · 2025-10-30 · unverdicted · none · ref 28 · internal anchor

    Derives new state-independent lower bounds on semi-local integrals of null energy flux in QFTs of two and higher dimensions using QNEC, strong subadditivity, and modular Hamiltonians.

  • Entropy Variations and Light Ray Operators from Replica Defects hep-th · 2019-06-19 · unverdicted · none · ref 6 · internal anchor

    Replica analysis shows QNEC saturation in interacting CFTs with twist gap because only the stress-tensor defect operator produces the contact term in the n to 1 limit.