Deutsch Intern
Theoretical Physics II

Dr. Leonardo Modesto in a special seminar on December 18, 2:00 pm, SE 5

12/10/2009

"QUANTUM SPACE-TIME AND BLACK HOLES", Dr. Leonardo Modesto, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, Canada

Abstract:

In this talk after an introduction to loop quantum gravity (LQG) I present a recent spectral analysis of the theory. The space-time shows a fractal structure at high energy and manifests an effective dimension
D ≈ 2 at the Planck scale.

The core of the talk is devoted to present an application of the theory to the black hole physics.  In particular I apply the ideas of LQG to the black hole interior obtaining a singularity-free semi-classical metric that I called "loop quantum black hole" (LQBH). The metric is regular in r=0, has a Reissner-Nordstrom causal structure and is self-dual. For self-duality I mean a symmetry between small and large scales:
r --> a0/r, where a0 is the minimum area of LQG. In particular if an observer in r --> + infinity sees a mass "m" the dual observer in r ≈ 0 sees a dual mass "mp^2/m" (mp is the Planck mass). In the last part of the talk I will show how ultra-light black holes can explain dark matter and also ultra-high energy cosmic rays.

By W. Porod

Back