Project description
How black holes interact with their radiation
Black holes, by emitting Hawking radiation (where quantum particles escape from the event horizon), behave as open quantum systems. This means they interact with their surroundings, leading to intricate quantum entanglement between the black hole itself and the emitted radiation. This entanglement encodes critical information about the black hole’s internal state, making it crucial for understanding black hole entropy and quantum gravity principles. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the BHEF project will investigate how such entanglement evolves over time, using entanglement entropy (a measure of the degree of quantum entanglement) as a tool to analyse black hole-radiation interactions. Project insights will help connect the quantum properties of black holes to the broader theoretical framework of gravitational systems.
Objective
Black holes are some of the most fascinating astrophysical objects in the universe. Since they bend space and time in extreme ways, they also serve as powerful theoretical laboratories for testing our understanding of theories of quantum gravity such as string theory.
As black holes evolve, they emit Hawking radiation into their surroundings, behaving like open quantum systems with non-trivial quantum entanglement between system and environment. By studying the evolution of entanglement measures, namely entanglement entropy, in open systems, this project will offer deeper insights into black hole entropy and quantum gravity. This forms the core of the project ``Entanglement flows in open systems and black holes'', supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme.
The entanglement structure of open quantum systems and its link to black hole entropy is largely unexplored. Building on quantum gravity and string theory, this research will pursue the following objectives.
1. Develop a formalism for studying entanglement in time-dependent open quantum systems, generalizing the correlation matrix method to out-of-equilibrium states. By analyzing the eigenspectrum, the framework will capture the entanglement dynamics of the system.
2. Validate the framework on quantum mechanical models (e.g. Caldeira–Leggett models), and then generalize it to quantum and conformal field theories, as well as holographic systems using the gravitational Schwinger–Keldysh approach.
3. Relate the quantum corrections to black hole entropy—obtained from quasinormal modes (QNMs)—to the dynamics of open quantum systems. This is done by expressing the partition function in complex mode frequencies, which reveals how information is encoded in gravitational systems and how bulk gravitational entropy appears through QNMs.
Through this research, the applicant will develop technical, interdisciplinary, leadership skills, greatly boosting his career potential as an independent researcher.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences physical sciences quantum physics
- natural sciences physical sciences astronomy astrophysics black holes
- natural sciences physical sciences theoretical physics string theory
- natural sciences mathematics applied mathematics mathematical physics conformal field theory
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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SA2 8PP Swansea
United Kingdom
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