The holar wind

Abstract

String theory in AdS3 with purely NS-NS fluxes and vanishing RR moduli has a continuum of winding string excitations in radial plane wave states. BTZ black holes can emit such strings, which then flow out toward the AdS3 boundary as a stream of massive quanta, and form a black hole analogue of the solar wind. The winding string sector thus provides a decay channel for the black hole to evaporate without having either to couple the system to an external reservoir or to match the AdS3 throat onto an asymptotically flat region. We compute the emission amplitude of this “holar wind” in the semi-classical approximation, and consider the associated version of the black hole information paradox.