On the quantum width of a black hole horizon
| dc.creator | Marolf, Donald | |
| dc.date | 2003-12-05 | |
| dc.date | 2004-01-05 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-07-07T10:49:47Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-07-07T10:49:47Z | |
| dc.description | The many low energy modes near a black hole horizon give the thermal atmosphere a divergent entropy which becomes of order $A/4G$ with a Planck scale cut-off. However, Sorkin has given a Newtonian argument for 3+1 Schwarzschild black holes to the effect that fluctuations of such modes provide the horizon with a non-zero quantum mechanical width. This width then effectively enforces a cut-off at much larger distances so that the entropy of the thermal atmosphere is negligible in comparison with $A/4G$ for large black holes. We generalize and improve this result by giving a relativistic argument valid for any spherical black hole in any dimension. The result is again a cut-off $L_c$ at a geometric mean of the Planck scale and the black hole radius; in particular, $L_c^d \sim \frac{R}{T_H} \ell_p^{d-2}$. With this cut-off, the entropy of the thermal atmosphere is again parametrically small in comparison with the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy of the black hole. The effect of a large number $N$ of fundamental fields and the discrepancies from naive predictions of a stretched horizon model are also discussed. | |
| dc.description | 14 pages, JHEP style, for the Adriatic 2003 conference, minor changes | |
| dc.identifier | https://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0312059 | |
| dc.identifier | http://arxiv.org/abs/hep-th/0312059 | |
| dc.identifier | SpringerProc.Phys.98:99-112,2005 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/184339 | |
| dc.subject | High Energy Physics - Theory | |
| dc.subject | General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology | |
| dc.title | On the quantum width of a black hole horizon | |
| dc.type | text |