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arXiv:2605.15272

A general proof of integer Rényi QNEC

Tanay Kibe, Pratik Roy

hep-thmath-phmath.OAquant-phSubmitted May 14, 2026• Announced May 18, 2026• 0 citations• Revised Aug 21, 2026 (v2)
v1 · May 14, 2026v2 · Aug 21, 2026v3 · Oct 12, 2026
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Abstract

The Rényi quantum null energy condition conjectures that the second null shape variation of the sandwiched Rényi divergence (SRD) of an excited state relative to the vacuum is non-negative in local Poincaré-invariant quantum field theory, giving a one-parameter generalization of the quantum null energy condition (QNEC). We prove Rényi QNEC for all integer Rényi parameters $n\geq 2$ for von Neumann algebras carrying a half-sided modular inclusion structure. The only assumption on the excited state is finiteness of its SRD relative to the vacuum. Concretely, for any $σ$-finite von Neumann algebra with such an inclusion, we prove log-convexity, under the associated null-translation semigroup, of the Kosaki $L^n$ norm of any normal positive functional with finite $L^n$ norm.

Comments
57 pages, 1 figure. v2: Significant rewriting to improve exposition; results unchanged

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The quantum null energy condition (QNEC) is usually stated as a bound on the expectation value of null components of the stress-energy tensor at a point in terms of second null shape variations of the entanglement entropy at the same point. It can be recast as the statement that the sign of the second null shape variation of the relative entropy of any state with respect to the vacuum is positive. Using instead a R\'enyi generalization of relative entropy, called sandwiched R\'enyi divergence (SRD), leads to what is termed the R\'enyi QNEC: The second null shape variation of SRD of any state with respect to the vacuum is positive. In this work, we prove the R\'enyi QNEC for free and superrenormalizable fermionic quantum field theories in spacetime dimensions greater than 2 using null quantization, for the case where the R\'enyi parameter n>1n>1n>1. We end with comments on multiple possible generalizations.
Abstract The Quantum Null Energy Condition (QNEC) is a lower bound on the stress-energy tensor in quantum field theory that has been proved quite generally. It can equivalently be phrased as a positivity condition on the second null shape derivative of the relative entropy Srel(ρ||σ) of an arbitrary state ρ with respect to the vacuum σ. The relative entropy has a natural one-parameter family generalization, the Sandwiched Rényi divergence Sn(ρ||σ), which also measures the distinguishability of two states for arbitrary n ∈ [1/2, ∞). A Rényi QNEC, a positivity condition on the second null shape derivative of Sn(ρ||σ), was conjectured in previous work. In this work, we study the Rényi QNEC for free and superrenormalizable field theories in spacetime dimension d > 2 using the technique of null quantization. In the above setting, we prove the Rényi QNEC in the case n > 1 for arbitrary states. We also provide counterexamples to the Rényi QNEC for n < 1.
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We prove a conjectured lower bound on ⟨T_ _(x)⟩ ψψψ in any state ψψψ of a CFT on Minkowski space, dubbed the Quantum Null Energy Condition (QNEC). The bound is given by the second order shape deformation, in the null direction, of the geometric entanglement entropy of an entangling cut passing through xxx. Our proof involves a combination of the two independent methods that were used recently to prove the weaker Averaged Null Energy Condition (ANEC). In particular the properties of modular Hamiltonians under shape deformations for the state ψ play an important role, as do causality considerations. We study the two point function of a “probe” operator O\mathcal{O}O in the state ψψψ and use a lightcone limit to evaluate this correlator. Instead of causality in time we consider causality on modular time for the modular evolved probe operators, which we constrain using Tomita-Takesaki theory as well as certain generalizations pertaining to the theory of modular inclusions. The QNEC follows from very similar considerations to the derivation of the chaos bound and the causality sum rule. We use a kind of defect Operator Product Expansion to apply the replica trick to these modular flow computations, and the displacement operator plays an important role. We argue that the proof extends to more general relativistic QFT with an interacting UV fixed point and also prove a higher spin version of the QNEC. Our approach was inspired by the AdS/CFT proof of the QNEC which follows from properties of the Ryu-Takayanagi (RT) surface near the boundary of AdS, combined with the requirement of entanglement wedge nesting. Our methods were, as such, designed as a precise probe of the RT surface close to the boundary of a putative gravitational/stringy dual of any QFT with an interacting UV fixed point.
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