Hints of quantum gravity from the horizon fluid

par Prof. Bethan CROPP (Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Trivandrum)

mardi 15 nov. 2016, 14:30 → 15:30 Europe/Paris

Amphithéâtre Léon Motchane (IHES)

For many years researchers have tried to glean hints about quantum gravity from black hole thermodynamics. We try a different approach using a minimal statistical mechanical model for the horizon fluid based on Damour-Navier-Stokes (DNS) equation. For asymptotically flat black hole spacetimes in General Relativity, we show explicitly that at equilibrium the entropy of the horizon fluid is the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy. Further we show that, for the bulk viscosity of the fluctuations of the horizon fluid to be identical to Damour, a confinement scale exists for these fluctuations, implying quantization of the horizon area.