Abstract
The quantum interest conjecture of Ford and Roman asserts that any negative-energy pulse must necessarily be followed by an overcompensating positive-energy one within a certain maximum time delay. Furthermore, the minimum amount of over-compensation increases with the separation between the pulses. In this paper we first study the case of a negative-energy square pulse followed by a positive-energy one for a minimally coupled, massless scalar field in two-dimensional Minkowski space. We obtain explicit expressions for the maximum time delay and the amount of over-compensation needed, using a previously developed eigenvalue approach. These results are then used to give a proof of the quantum interest conjecture for massless scalar fields in two dimensions, valid for general energy distributions.
- Received 21 June 2002
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.66.064007
©2002 American Physical Society