Periodic Reporting for period 1 - BlackHoleChaos (Chaos and thermal effects in black hole interactions)
Reporting period: 2023-06-01 to 2025-05-31
The puzzling interplay between chaos, thermal effects and information theory is one of the most fascinating directions in theoretical physics. The questions involved challenge our fundamental understanding of Physics and are slowly emerging in the forefront of the observations in Gravitational Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology. Indeed, black holes (BHs) are physical systems where all these three topics turn out to be strongly correlated. In classical physics, chaos is characterized by the stretching and folding in phase space. Stretching occurs within a region of phase space along unstable directions with an average rate given by the Lyapunov exponents. Folding is necessary in order to have confinement in a finite region of phase space. Quantum systems present a modified scenario where the state space is characterized by eigenfunctions and eigenvalues of the Hamiltonian. Diverse methodologies have been developed over the years in order to build a bridge between the spectral data and the dynamics of classical systems. Nevertheless, chaos in many-body quantum systems remains a challenging phenomenon. Explaining the mechanisms that generate chaos from first principles is expected to shed light on the microscopic foundations of thermodynamics. Complex physical systems, such as BHs, show classical chaotic behaviors in the geodesic motions of orbiting probe particles. At the quantum mechanical level their radiation is characterized by a thermal spectrum, which is the Hawking radiation. The thermal nature of the emitted radiation triggers the entanglement between the BH structure and the scrambling of the outgoing information. Finally, the thermodynamical characterization of BHs gives rise to an emblematic area law that governs their entropy.
In black hole physics, a deep understanding of the mechanisms that connect chaos, thermal effects and information theory requires a still challenging quantum gravity description. The project aims to address the links between these mechanisms by within the context of String Theory.
To achieve this goal we aim to:
I) Develop a theoretical framework for Chaos and Thermal behaviour in String Theory.
The project will construct models of highly excited string states realizing physical processes of BHs in quantum gravity and will employ them to extract novel information about chaotic and thermal behaviours in String Theory. Main questions to be addressed in this part include the chaotic behavior of two and three-body decay processes of BH states and the emergence of thermal behavior in decay processes of BH states.
II) Explore applications to Gravitational Waves and BH evaporation.
Using the results of the first part on scattering with highly excited string states, the project will extract lessons for the presence of chaos in GWs and EMWs production and the consequences of chaos in black hole interactions and evaporation processes.
In black hole physics, a deep understanding of the mechanisms that connect chaos, thermal effects and information theory requires a still challenging quantum gravity description. The project aims to address the links between these mechanisms by within the context of String Theory.
To achieve this goal we aim to:
I) Develop a theoretical framework for Chaos and Thermal behaviour in String Theory.
The project will construct models of highly excited string states realizing physical processes of BHs in quantum gravity and will employ them to extract novel information about chaotic and thermal behaviours in String Theory. Main questions to be addressed in this part include the chaotic behavior of two and three-body decay processes of BH states and the emergence of thermal behavior in decay processes of BH states.
II) Explore applications to Gravitational Waves and BH evaporation.
Using the results of the first part on scattering with highly excited string states, the project will extract lessons for the presence of chaos in GWs and EMWs production and the consequences of chaos in black hole interactions and evaporation processes.