Thermalization, viscosity and the averaged null energy condition

Abstract We explore the implications of the averaged null energy condition for thermal states of relativistic quantum field theories. A key property of such thermal states is the thermalization length. This lengthscale generalizes the notion of a mean free path beyond weak coupling, and allows finite size regions to independently thermalize. Using the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis, we show that thermal fluctuations in finite size ‘fireballs’ can produce states that violate the averaged null energy condition if the thermalization length is too short or if the shear viscosity is too large. These bounds become very weak with a large number N of degrees of freedom but can constrain real-world systems, such as the quark-gluon plasma.