ACP Seminar (Astronomy - Cosmology - Particle Physics)

Speaker: Bernard Carr (Queen Mary, U of London)
Title: Black Holes and the Generalized Uncertainty Principle
Date (JST): Wed, Aug 07, 2013, 13:30 - 14:30
Place: Seminar Room A
Related File: 992.pdf
Abstract: The Generalized Uncertainty Principle suggests corrections to the Uncertainty Principle as the energy increases towards the Planck value. It provides a natural transition between the expressions for the Compton wavelength below the Planck mass and the black hole event horizon size above this mass. It also suggests corrections to the the event horizon size as the black hole mass falls towards the Planck value, leading to the concept of a Generalized Event Horizon. These arguments support what we term the Black Hole Uncertainty Principle correspondence, which proposes that there is a deep connection between the Uncertainty Principle on microscopic scales and black holes on macroscopic scales. One implication of this is that there should exist black holes lighter than the Planck mass but with a size of order their Compton wavelength. Loop quantum gravity suggests the existence of black holes with precisely this feature, although they involve another asymptotic space and the event horizon is hidden behind the throat of a wormhole. This suggests a new kind connection between black holes, elementary particles and quantum gravity. Another important implication of this correspondence is that it leads to a modification of the Hawking formula for the black hole temperature and suggests how it can be extended into the sub-Planckian regime.