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In relativistic classical field theories of gravitation, particularly general relativity, an energy condition is a generalization of the statement "the energy density of a region of space cannot be negative" in a relativistically phrased mathematical formulation. There are multiple possible alternative ways to express such a condition such that can be applied to the matter content of the theory. The hope is then that any reasonable matter theory will satisfy this condition or at least will preserve the condition if it is satisfied by the starting conditions.
Energy conditions are not physical constraints per se, but are rather mathematically imposed boundary conditions that attempt to capture a belief that "energy should be positive".[1] Many energy conditions are known to not correspond to physical reality—for example, the observable effects of dark energy are well known to violate the strong energy condition.[2][3]
In general relativity, energy conditions are often used (and required) in proofs of various important theorems about black holes, such as the no hair theorem or the laws of black hole thermodynamics.
- ^ Curiel, E. (2014). "A Primer on Energy Conditions". arXiv:1405.0403.
- ^ Farnes, J.S. (2018). "A Unifying Theory of Dark Energy and Dark Matter: Negative Masses and Matter Creation within a Modified ΛCDM Framework". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 620: A92. arXiv:1712.07962. Bibcode:2018A&A...620A..92F. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201832898. S2CID 53600834.
- ^ Visser, Matt; Barceló, Carlos (2000). "Energy Conditions and Their Cosmological Implications". Cosmo-99. pp. 98–112. arXiv:gr-qc/0001099. doi:10.1142/9789812792129_0014. ISBN 978-981-02-4456-9. S2CID 119446302.