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The Celestial Road to a Holographic Description of Black Holes

Project description

New theoretical approaches aid in decoding the quantum nature of black holes

Leveraging holographic correspondence, a well-established theoretical framework, scientists have made important progress in understanding the elusive quantum properties of black holes. Bridging the gap between quantum mechanics and general relativity, this framework treats black holes as holograms. However, this correspondence has been mostly explored in anti-de Sitter spacetimes, which exhibit negative curvature. The ERC-funded CeleBH project aims to apply holographic correspondence to asymptotically flat spacetimes, which are characterised by lack of curvature at infinity, namely at regions far from black holes. Researchers will combine celestial holography, which posits that quantum gravity in flat space can be described by a celestial conformal field theory living on the sphere at infinity, and infinite-dimensional symmetries that appear close to black hole event horizons.

Objective

Black holes are at the root of the most striking puzzles that arise when attempting to combine quantum mechanics and general relativity; they are therefore thought to be key to a formulation of a theory of quantum gravity. In recent years, progress in our understanding of the elusive quantum nature of black holes has been made thanks to the so-called holographic correspondence, which has provided theoretical physicists with a powerful tool to study quantum gravity. However, these methods are so far only fully developed for anti-de Sitter spacetimes, whereas understanding realistic black holes would require to develop a holographic correspondence for asymptotically flat spacetimes.

The aim of this project is to make major steps towards a holographic description of quantum gravity in asymptotically flat spacetimes, and to address some of the unresolved key issues in black hole physics, especially in understanding the mysterious origin of their vast entropy. To do so, I propose to combine two novel emergent ideas: The first is a new approach to holography in flat spacetimes called celestial holography, which proposes that quantum gravity in flat space can be described by a celestial conformal field theory living on the sphere at infinity. The second is based on the recent discovery, in my previous works, of the existence of intriguing infinite-dimensional symmetries that appear close to black holes’ event horizon. The infinite set of asymptotic conservation laws in the presence of horizons is awaiting to be unraveled, as it will reveal unexplored constraints on information flow for black holes in flat spacetimes.

Thanks to this unique combination of powerful approaches based on symmetry principles, my research project aims at addressing the challenge of a holographic formulation of spacetimes that include realistic black holes, such as the ones we observe in the sky.

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(opens in new window) ERC-2022-STG

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Host institution

SCUOLA INTERNAZIONALE SUPERIORE DI STUDI AVANZATI DI TRIESTE
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 969 334,00
Address
VIA BONOMEA 265
34136 Trieste
Italy

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Region
Nord-Est Friuli-Venezia Giulia Trieste
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 969 334,00

Beneficiaries (1)

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