Related papers: Observational strong gravity and quantum black hol…
A satisfactory theory of quantum gravity may necessitate a drastic modification of our perception of space-time, by giving it a foamy structure at distances comparable to the Planck length. It is argued in this essay that the experimental…
Production of high-energy gravitational objects is a common feature of gravitational theories. The primordial universe is a natural setting for the creation of black holes and other nonperturbative gravitational entities. Cosmic black holes…
We present a bird's-eye survey on the development of fundamental ideas of quantum gravity, placing emphasis on perturbative approaches, string theory, loop quantum gravity, and black hole thermodynamics. The early ideas at the dawn of…
Recent results show that important singularities in General Relativity can be naturally described in terms of finite and invariant canonical geometric objects. Consequently, one can write field equations which are equivalent to Einstein's…
We present a quantum theory of black hole (and other) horizons, in which the standard assumptions of complementarity are preserved without contradicting information theoretic considerations. After the scrambling time, the quantum mechanical…
The classic black hole mechanics and thermodynamics are formulated for stationary black holes with event horizons. Alternative theories of gravity of interest for cosmology contain a built-in time-dependent cosmological "constant" and black…
Recently the quantum Oppenheimer-Snyder gravitational collapse model has been proposed in loop quantum gravity, providing quantum-corrected Schwarzschild spacetimes as the exterior of the collapsing dust ball. In this paper, the quantum…
There is mounting theoretical evidence that black hole horizons induce decoherence on a quantum system, say a particle, put in a superposition of locations, with the decoherence functional, evaluated after closure of the superposition,…
We derive the black hole solutions with horizons of non-trivial topology and investigate their properties in the framework of an approach to quantum gravity being an extension of Bohm's formulation of quantum mechanics. The solutions we…
New theoretical approaches developed in the last years predict that macroscopic quantum gravity effects in black holes should lead to modifications of the gravitational wave signals expected in the framework of classical general relativity,…
Recent developments in the study of primordial black holes (PBHs) will be reviewed, with particular emphasis on their formation and evaporation. PBHs could provide a unique probe of the early Universe, gravitational collapse, high energy…
The prediction of spacetime singularities, regions of infinite curvature where classical physics breaks down, is one of the most profound challenges in General Relativity (GR). In particular, black hole solutions such as the Schwarzschild…
Loop Quantum Gravity is a theory that attempts to describe the quantum mechanics of the gravitational field based on the canonical quantization of General Relativity. According to Loop Quantum Gravity, in a gravitational field, geometric…
These are the lecture notes for an introductory course on black holes and some aspects of their interaction with the classical and quantum world. The focus is on phenomena of "fundamental physics" in the immediate surroundings of the black…
What is going on (as of August 2008) at the interface between theoretical general relativity, string-inspired models, and observational astrophysics? Quite a lot. In this mini-survey I will make a personal choice and focus on four specific…
Recent VLBI observations have resolved Sagittarius A* at horizon scales. The Event Horizon Telescope is expected to provide increasingly good images of the region around the Schwarzschild radius $r_S$ of Sgr A* soon. A number of authors…
I review several different calculations, coming from string theory, nonperturbative quantum gravity and analyses of black holes that lead to predictions of phenomena that would uniquely be signatures of quantum gravitational effects. These…
Quantum gravitational corrections to black holes are studied in four and higher dimensions using a renormalisation group improvement of the metric. The quantum effects are worked out in detail for asymptotically safe gravity, where the…
Searches for gravitational wave echoes in the aftermath of mergers and/or formation of astrophysical black holes have recently opened a novel and surprising window into the quantum nature of their horizons. Similar to astro- and…
We describe the possible forms of black hole images, viewed by a distant observer. These images are numerically calculated basing on general relativity and equations of motion in the Kerr-Newman metric. Black hole image is a gravitationally…