Black Hole Atmosphere Research Articles

Quantum evolution of the Hawking state for black holes

We give a general description of the evolving quantum state of a Schwarzschild black hole, in the quantum field theory approximation. Such a time-dependent description is based on introducing a choice of time slices. We in particular consider slices that smoothly cross the horizon, and introduction of "stationary" such slices simplifies the analysis. This analysis goes beyond standard derivations of Hawking radiation that focus on asymptotic excitations, and in particular gives an evolving state that is regular at the horizon, with no explicit transplanckian dependence, and that can in principle be generalized to incorporate interacting fields. It is also expected to be useful in connecting to information-theoretic investigation of black hole evolution. The description of the evolving state depends on the choice of slices as well as coordinates on the slices and mode bases; these choices give different "pictures" analogous to that of Schr\"odinger. Evolution does have a simpler appearance in an energy eigenbasis, but such a basis is also singular at the horizon; evolution of regular modes has a more complicated appearance, whose properties may be inferred by comparing with the energy eigenbasis. In a regular description, Hawking quanta are produced in a black hole atmosphere, at scales comparable to the horizon size. This approach is also argued to extend to more general asymptotics, such as that of anti de Sitter space. In the latter context, this analysis provides a description of the hamiltonian and evolution of a black hole that may be compared to the large-$N$ dynamics of the proposed dual CFT.

Why the entropy of spacetime is independent of species of particles: the species problem

The Hawking radiation emits all species of particles, but the Bekenstein–Hawking entropy is independent of the number of the species of particles. This is the so-called species problem—a puzzling problem for a long time. In this paper, we suggest a solution to this problem. A result of the scheme is that the black hole atmosphere has a mass equaling 3/8 mass of a classical Schwarzschild black hole, which agrees with ’t Hooft’s brick wall model.

Stringy horizons II

We show that the spectrum of normalizable states on a Euclidean SL(2,R)/U(1) black hole exhibits a duality between oscillator states and wound strings. This duality generalizes the FZZ correspondence, which can be thought of as an identification between a normalizable mode of dilaton gravity and a mode of the tachyon with winding number one around the Euclidean time circle. It implies that normalizable states on a large Euclidean black hole have support at widely separated scales. In particular, localized states that are extended over the cap of the cigar (the Euclidian analog of the black hole atmosphere) have a component that is localized near the tip of the cigar (the analog of the stretched horizon). As a consequence of this duality, the states exhibit a transition as a function of radial excitation level. From the perspective of a low energy probe, low lying states are naturally thought of as oscillator states in the black hole atmosphere, while at large excitation level they are naturally described as wound strings. As the excitation level increases, the size of the states first decreases and then increases. This behavior is expected to be a general feature of black hole horizons in string theory.

Publisher’s Note: Scattering of low lying states in the black hole atmosphere [Phys. Rev. D94, 026008 (2016)

Publisher’s Note: Scattering of low lying states in the black hole atmosphere [Phys. Rev. D<b>94</b>, 026008 (2016)

Scattering of low lying states in the black hole atmosphere

We investigate finite $\alpha '$ effects in string theory on a black hole background. By explicitly computing tree level scattering amplitudes, we confirm a duality between seemingly different states recently conjectured by Giveon, Itzhaki, and Kutasov in [arXiv:1603.05822]. We verify that the relevant 3-point functions factorize in such a way that the duality between oscillator and winding states becomes manifest. This leads to determine the precise normalization of the dual vertex operators, and confirms at the level of the interacting theory the identification of states suggested by the analysis of the spectrum. This result implies a duality between two seemingly distinct mechanisms driving the violation of the string winding number in the black hole atmosphere.

Possible observational windows for quantum effects from black holes

Quantum information transfer necessary to reconcile black hole evaporation with quantum mechanics, while approximately preserving regular near-horizon geometry, can be simply parameterized in terms of couplings of the black hole internal state to quantum fields of the black hole atmosphere. The necessity of transferring sufficient information for unitarization sets the strengths of these couplings. Such couplings via the stress tensor offer apparently significant advantages, and behave like quantum fluctuations of the effective metric near the horizon. At the requisite strength, these fluctuations, while soft (low energy/momentum), have significant magnitude, and so can deflect near-horizon geodesics that span distances of order the black hole radius. Thus, the presence of such couplings can result in effects that could be detected or constrained by observation: disruption of near-horizon accretion flows, scintillation of light passing close to the black hole, and alteration of gravitational wave emission from inspirals. These effects could in particular distort features of Sgr A* expected to be observed, e.g., by the Event Horizon Telescope, such as the black hole shadow and photon ring.

Modulated Hawking radiation and a nonviolent channel for information release

Unitarization of black hole evaporation requires that quantum information escapes a black hole; an important question is to identify the mechanism or channel by which it does so. Accurate counting of black hole states via the Bekenstein–Hawking entropy would indicate this information should be encoded in radiation with average energy flux matching Hawking's. Information can be encoded with no change in net flux via fine-grained modulation of the Hawking radiation. In an approximate effective field theory description, couplings to the stress tensor of the black hole atmosphere that depend on the internal state of the black hole are a promising alternative for inducing such modulation. These can be picturesquely thought of as due to state-dependent metric fluctuations in the vicinity of the horizon. Such couplings offer the prospect of emitting information without extra energy flux, and can be shown to do so at linear order in the couplings, with motivation given for possible extension of this result to higher orders. The potential advantages of such couplings to the stress tensor thus extend beyond their universality, which is helpful in addressing constraints from black hole mining.

Effective field theory models for nonviolent information transfer from black holes

Transfer of quantum information from the interior of a black hole to its atmosphere is described, in models based on effective field theory. This description illustrates that such transfer need not be violent to the semiclassical geometry or to infalling observers, and in particular can avoid producing a singular horizon or "firewall." One can specifically quantify the rate of information transfer, and show that a rate necessary to unitarize black hole evaporation produces a relatively mild modification to the stress tensor near the horizon. In an exterior description of the transfer, the new interactions responsible for it are approximated by "effective sources" acting on fields in the black hole atmosphere. If the necessary interactions couple to general modes in the black hole atmosphere, one also finds a straightforward mechanism for information transfer rates to increase when a black hole is mined, avoiding paradoxical behavior. Correspondence limits are discussed, in the presence of such new interactions, for both small black holes and large ones; the near-horizon description of the latter is approximately that of Rindler space.

Nonviolent nonlocality

If quantum mechanics governs nature, black holes must evolve unitarily, providing a powerful constraint on the dynamics of quantum gravity. Such evolution apparently must in particular be nonlocal, when described from the usual semiclassical geometric picture, in order to transfer quantum information into the outgoing state. While such transfer from a disintegrating black hole has the dangerous potential to be violent to generic infalling observers, this paper proposes the existence of a more innocuous form of information transfer, to relatively soft modes in the black hole atmosphere. Simplified models for such nonlocal transfer are described and parameterized, within a possibly more basic framework of networked Hilbert spaces. Sufficiently sensitive measurements by infalling observers may detect departures from Hawking's predictions, and in generic models black holes decay more rapidly. Constraints of consistency---internally and with known and expected features of physics---restrict the form of information transfer, and should provide important guides to discovery of the principles and mechanisms of the more fundamental nonlocal mechanics.

Nonviolent information transfer from black holes: A field theory parametrization

A candidate parametrization is introduced, in an effective field theory framework, for the quantum information transfer from a black hole that is necessary to restore unitarity. This in particular allows for description of the effects of this information transfer in the black hole atmosphere, for example seen by infalling observers. In the presence of such information transfer, it is shown that infalling observers need not experience untoward violence. Moreover, the presence of general moderate-frequency couplings to field modes with high angular momenta offers a mechanism to enhance information transfer rates, commensurate with the increased energy flux, when a string is introduced to ``mine'' a black hole. Generic such models for nonviolent information transfer predict extra energy flux from a black hole, beyond that of Hawking.

Dynamics of Plasma Close to the Horizon of a Schwarzschild Black Hole

General relativistic plasma dynamics relevant to the condition very close to a black hole event horizon is developed. The plasma is studied using the 3+1 paradigm of general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics. The equilibrium and dynamical solution of such a plasma in Rindler's coordinates are presented. We assume a pressure source at the horizon that provides the balancing force to stop the radial infall of the plasma. We show that the plasma near the black hole is subject to the convective instability when the magnetic field is absent and to the magnetic buoyancy instability when a toroidal field exists. These instabilities are largely suppressed, however, in the presence of a poloidal magnetic field. Therefore, when a poloidal magnetic field is twisted and changed into a toroidal field by plasma rotation, the plasma is destabilized due to these instabilities. The manifestation of these instabilities is a jet formation from this inner region of a black hole atmosphere. Since this formation mechanism is deep in the gravitational potential of a black hole, the energy liberated and the jet formed by this mechanism can be very substantial. We suggest that this mechanism provides a viable model for recent observations of the superluminal jets from the galactic black hole candidates GRS 1915+105 and GRO J1655-40.