Related papers: Probing quantum gravity using high-energy astrophy…
Planck stars form when a collapsing shell of matter within a black hole reaches the Planck density, roughly equivalent to the mass being compressed into a volumetric size near that of the proton, and rebounds outwards. These planck stars…
Non-perturbative quantum gravity effects might allow a black-to-white hole transition. We revisit this increasingly popular hypothesis by taking into account the fundamentally random nature of the bouncing time. We show that if the…
It was recently shown that black holes could be bouncing stars as a consequence of quantum gravity. We investigate the astrophysical signals implied by this hypothesis, focusing on primordial black holes. We consider different possible…
Black holes are extreme manifestations of general relativity, so one might hope that exotic quantum effects would be amplified in their vicinities, perhaps providing clues to quantum gravity. The commonly accepted treatment of quantum…
The detection of quantum gravity effects is highly limited in both macroscopic and microscopic scenarios: The small quantum parameter makes most large-scale observations practically indistinguishable from general relativity. While at the…
Quantum gravity may allow black holes to tunnel into white holes. If so, the lifetime of a black hole could be shorter than the one given by Hawking evaporation, solving the information paradox. More interestingly, this could open to a new…
Quantum considerations have led many theorists to believe that classical black hole physics is modified not just deep inside black holes but at {\it horizon scales}, or even further outward. The near-horizon regime has just begun to be…
With several dozen binary black hole events detected by LIGO/Virgo to date and many more expected in the next few years, gravitational-wave astronomy is shifting from individual-event analyses to population studies. Using the GWTC-2…
We develop the idea that, in quantum gravity where the horizon fluctuates, a black hole should have a discrete mass spectrum with concomitant line emission. Simple arguments fix the spacing of the lines, which should be broad but unblended.…
We develop a framework for testing quantum gravity through the stochastic gravitational-wave background produced by evaporating near-Planck-mass primordial black holes. Because gravitons free-stream from the emission region without…
I reconsider Hawking's analysis of the effects of gravitational collapse on quantum fields, taking into account interactions between the fields. The ultra-high energy vacuum fluctuations, which had been considered to be an awkward…
In classical General Relativity (GR), an observer falling into an astrophysical black hole is not expected to experience anything dramatic as she crosses the event horizon. However, tentative resolutions to problems in quantum gravity, such…
The recent LIGO detection of gravitational waves from black-hole binaries offers the exciting possibility of testing gravitational theories in the previously inaccessible strong-field, highly relativistic regime. While the LIGO detections…
A population of very light primordial black holes which evaporate before nucleosynthesis begins is unconstrained unless the decaying black holes leave stable relics. We show that gravitons Hawking radiated from these black holes would…
Pair-instability should prevent the direct formation of black holes above about $50M_\odot$ creating a pair-instability mass gap. Yet gravitational-wave observations have detected black holes in this mass range. These systems can be…
Recent implications of results from quantum information theory applied to black holes has led to the confusing conclusions that requires either abandoning the equivalence principle (e.g. the firewall picture), or the no-hair theorem (e.g.…
A new phenomenon, recently studied in theoretical physics, may have considerable interest for astronomers: the explosive decay of old primordial black holes via quantum tunnelling. Models predict radio and gamma bursts with a characteristic…
Gravitational-wave astronomy has the potential to explore one of the deepest and most puzzling aspects of Einstein's theory: the existence of black holes. A plethora of ultracompact, horizonless objects have been proposed to arise in models…
We pioneer the black hole mass gap as a powerful new tool for constraining modified gravity theories. These theories predict fifth forces that alter the structure and evolution of population-III stars, exacerbating the pair-instability.…
A recent understanding on how quantum effects may affect black-hole evolution opens new scenarios for dark matter, in connection with the presence of black holes in the very early universe. Quantum fluctuations of the geometry allow for…