SHORT DISTANCE SIGNATURES IN COSMOLOGY: WHY NOT IN BLACK HOLES?

Abstract

Current theoretical investigations seem to indicate the possibility of observing signatures of short distance physics in the cosmic microwave background spectrum. We try to gain a deeper understanding on why all information about this regime is lost in the case of black hole radiation but not necessarily so in a cosmological setting by using the moving mirror as a toy model for both backgrounds. The different responses of the Hawking and cosmic microwave background spectra to short distance physics are derived in the appropriate limit when the moving mirror mimics a black hole background or an expanding universe. The different sensitivities to new physics, displayed by both backgrounds, are clarified through an averaging prescription that accounts for the intrinsic uncertainty in their quantum fluctuations. We then proceed to interpret the physical significance of our findings for time-dependent backgrounds in the light of nonlocal string theory.