Related papers: A "black hole theorem," and its implications
The black hole information paradox arises from an apparent conflict between the Hawking black hole radiation and the fact that time evolution in quantum mechanics is unitary. The trouble is that while the former suggests that information of…
The quantum nature of a black hole is revealed using the simplest terms that one learns in undergraduate and beginning graduate courses. The exposition demonstrates -- vividly -- the importance and power of the quantum oscillator in…
Black holes are the hydrogen atoms of quantum gravity. For instance solving the information loss paradox will likely require a deep understanding of how the long-sought quantum gravity theory works. In this thesis we explore how black holes…
Quantum physics at scales large compared to the Planck scale is described in the framework of classical space-time geometries. A criterion for selecting these backgrounds out of quantized gravity is proposed. It leads to an instability of…
The information loss paradox is usually stated as an incompatibility between general relativity and quantum mechanics. However, the assumptions leading to the problem are often overlooked and, in fact, a careful inspection of the main…
Quantum theory on manifolds with boundaries have been studied extensively through von Neumann analysis of self adjoint operators. We approach the issues through introduction of singular $\delta$ and $\delta'$ potentials. The advantages of…
Common wisdom associates all the unraveled and theoretically challenging aspects of gravity with its UV-completion. However, there appear to be few difficulties afflicting the effective framework for gravity already at low energy, that are…
We review uniqueness theorems as well as other general results about higher dimensional black hole spacetimes. This includes in particular theorems about the topology of higher dimensional spacetimes, theorems about their symmetries…
Although black holes are objects of central importance across many fields of physics, there is no agreed upon definition for them, a fact that does not seem to be widely recognized. Physicists in different fields conceive of and reason…
This chapter gives an overview of the quantum aspects of black holes, focusing on the black hole information problem, the counting of black hole entropy in string theory, and the emergence of spacetime in holography. It is aimed at a broad…
The black hole information paradox is the incompatibility of quantum mechanics with the semi-classical picture of Hawking radiation. Hawking radiation appears thermal and eventually leads to the complete disappearance of a black hole.…
Consider the interior of a black hole or the very early universe: matter is so densely localized that neither the effects of gravity nor those of quantum theory can be ignored. But this entails that neither general relativity nor quantum…
This essay gives a very general introduction to Schwarzschild black holes. First, it focuses on some of its classical features as solutions to Einstein's theory of gravity. In the second part it discusses briefly some specific quantum…
We describe some specific quantum black hole model. It is pointed out that the origin of a black hole entropy is the very process of quantum gravitational collapse. The quantum black hole mass spectrum is extracted from the mass spectrum of…
Black holes pose great difficulties for theory since gravity and quantum theory must be combined in some as yet unknown way. An additional difficulty is that detailed black hole observational data to guide theorists is lacking. In this…
The formation and evaporation of a black hole can be viewed as a scattering process in Quantum Gravity. Semiclassical arguments indicate that the process should be non-unitary, and that all the information of the original quantum state…
Thirty years of a deepening information paradox suggest the need to revise our basic physical framework. Multiple indicators point toward reassessment of the principle of locality: lack of a precise definition in quantum gravity, behavior…
Computations in the calculable small coupling regime of string theories and the general consensus that no new physics has to be invoked in continuing to the large coupling (black hole) regime, suggest the following picture. Quantum states…
To derive black hole thermodynamics in any quantum theory of gravity, one must introduce constraints that ensure that a black hole is actually present. For a large class of black holes, the imposition of such ``horizon constraints'' allows…
We show that there is a classical metric satisfying the Einstein equations outside a finite spacetime region where matter collapses into a black hole and then emerges from a white hole. We compute this metric explicitly. We show how quantum…