Entropy Bounds: New Insights

In this paper we review the fundamental concepts of entropy bounds put forward by Bousso and its relation to the holographic principle. We relate covariant entropy with logarithmic distance of separation of nearby geodesics. We also give sufficient arguments to show that the origin of entropy bounds is not indeed thermodynamic, but statistical.

Kodama Time, Entropy Bounds, the Raychaudhuri Equation, and the Quantum Interest Conjecture

<p>General Relativity, while ultimately based on the Einstein equations, also allows one to quantitatively study some aspects of the theory without explicitly solving the Einstein equations. These geometrical notions of the theory provide an insight to the nature of more general spacetimes. In this thesis, the Raychaudhuri equation, the choice of the coordinate system, the notions of surface gravity and of entropy, and restrictions on negative energy densities on the form of the Quantum Interest Conjecture, will be discussed. First, using the Kodama vector, a geometrically preferred coordinate system is built. With this coordinate system the usual quantities, such as the Riemann and Einstein tensors, are calculated. Then, the notion of surface gravity is generalized in two different ways. The first generalization is developed considering radial ingoing and outgoing null geodesics, in situations of spherical symmetry. The other generalized surface gravity is a three-vector obtained from the spatial components of the redshifted four acceleration of a suitable set of fiducial observers. This vectorial surface gravity is then used to place a bound on the entropy of both static and rotating horizonless objects. This bound is obtain mostly by classical calculations, with a minimum use of quantum field theory in curved spacetime. Additionally, several improved versions of the Raychaudhuri equation are developed and used in different scenarios, including a two congruence generalization of the equation. Ultimately semiclassical quantum general relativity is studied in the specific form of the Quantum Inequalities, and the Quantum Interest Conjecture. A variational proof of a version of the Quantum Interest Conjecture in (3 + 1)–dimensional Minkowski space is provided.</p>

Kodama Time, Entropy Bounds, the Raychaudhuri Equation, and the Quantum Interest Conjecture

<p>General Relativity, while ultimately based on the Einstein equations, also allows one to quantitatively study some aspects of the theory without explicitly solving the Einstein equations. These geometrical notions of the theory provide an insight to the nature of more general spacetimes. In this thesis, the Raychaudhuri equation, the choice of the coordinate system, the notions of surface gravity and of entropy, and restrictions on negative energy densities on the form of the Quantum Interest Conjecture, will be discussed. First, using the Kodama vector, a geometrically preferred coordinate system is built. With this coordinate system the usual quantities, such as the Riemann and Einstein tensors, are calculated. Then, the notion of surface gravity is generalized in two different ways. The first generalization is developed considering radial ingoing and outgoing null geodesics, in situations of spherical symmetry. The other generalized surface gravity is a three-vector obtained from the spatial components of the redshifted four acceleration of a suitable set of fiducial observers. This vectorial surface gravity is then used to place a bound on the entropy of both static and rotating horizonless objects. This bound is obtain mostly by classical calculations, with a minimum use of quantum field theory in curved spacetime. Additionally, several improved versions of the Raychaudhuri equation are developed and used in different scenarios, including a two congruence generalization of the equation. Ultimately semiclassical quantum general relativity is studied in the specific form of the Quantum Inequalities, and the Quantum Interest Conjecture. A variational proof of a version of the Quantum Interest Conjecture in (3 + 1)–dimensional Minkowski space is provided.</p>

Concentration functions and entropy bounds for discrete log-concave distributions

Two-sided bounds are explored for concentration functions and Rényi entropies in the class of discrete log-concave probability distributions. They are used to derive certain variants of the entropy power inequalities.

Entropy bound and unitarity of scattering amplitudes

We establish that unitarity of scattering amplitudes imposes universal entropy bounds. The maximal entropy of a self-sustained quantum field object of radius R is equal to its surface area and at the same time to the inverse running coupling α evaluated at the scale R. The saturation of these entropy bounds is in one-to-one correspondence with the non-perturbative saturation of unitarity by 2 → N particle scattering amplitudes at the point of optimal truncation. These bounds are more stringent than Bekenstein’s bound and in a consistent theory all three get saturated simultaneously. This is true for all known entropy-saturating objects such as solitons, instantons, baryons, oscillons, black holes or simply lumps of classical fields. We refer to these collectively as saturons and show that in renormalizable theories they behave in all other respects like black holes. Finally, it is argued that the confinement in SU(N) gauge theory can be understood as a direct consequence of the entropy bounds and unitarity.