Soft Heisenberg Hair on Astrophysical Black Holes

01.09.2018 - 31.08.2020
Scholarship
The holographic principle proposes a solution to one of the most prominent and longstanding
issues in theoretical physics: the search for a consistent theory of quantum gravity. As quantum gravity corrections are expected to appear at the Planck scale, which is about 15 orders of magnitude away from the energy range currently explored at the Large Hadron Collider, it is a natural choice to theoretically investigate the simplest systems where quantum gravity corrections become relevant: black holes.
One striking example for the incompatibility of gravity and quantum theory is the fact that black holes are thermodynamic systems which Hawking evaporate, ultimately leading to the infamous black hole information paradox. However, a loophole in the original
considerations has recently been discovered by Hawking, Perry and Strominger: While black holes were initially thought to be fully described by very few parameters (black hole uniqueness), the latest calculations suggest that black holes possess soft hair – zero-energy excitations that nevertheless lead to conserved charges different from the
ones of the classical black hole.
In previous works we have considered boundary conditions in three dimensions, which contain a regular, non-extremal horizon for all states in their spectrum. We have discovered that these “near horizon boundary conditions” lead to infinitely many conserved charges: near horizon soft hair. These considerations have been used to propose
a complete set of microstates of the BTZ black hole.
In this project we want to extend our discussion to four-dimensional astrophysical black holes, in particular we want to construct soft hair on Kerr black holes. These constructions will be the basis for a prospective identification and counting of microstates in four dimensions. After having thoroughly investigated the static solution, we intend
to extend the discussion to dynamical aspects such as black hole formation and evaporation.

People

Project leader

Project personnel

Institute

Grant funds

  • Österr. Akademie der Wissenschaften (National) Austrian Academy of Sciences Call identifier DOC 2018 / A-Nr. 25137

Research focus

  • Beyond TUW-research focus: 100%

Keywords

GermanEnglish
AdS/CFT AdS/CFT
Schwarze LöcherBlack holes

Publications