Absorption spectroscopy of quantum black holes with gravitational waves

A succinct summary is given of the problem of reconciling observation of black hole-like objects with quantum mechanics. If quantum black holes behave like subsystems, and also decay, their information must be transferred to their environments. Interactions that accomplish this with `minimal' departure from a standard description are parameterized. Possible sensitivity of gravitational wave or very long baseline interferometric observations to these interactions is briefly ou...

A gravitational bound state, called a Macro Holeum, is created from a very large number of microscopic black holes of primordial or a non-primordial origin. All of them undergo orbital motion, under the action of gravity, around their common center of mass. Four classes of Macro Holeum emerge: H, BH, HH and LH. The latter is a massless bundle of gravitational energy moving at the speed of light. The others are Dark Matter objects. BH emits Hawking radiation but the others do ...

A preliminary discussion is given of the prospects that gravitational-wave observations of binary inspiral of black holes could reveal or constrain quantum modifications to black hole dynamics, such as are required to preserve postulates of quantum mechanics. Different proposals for such modifications are characterized by different scales, and the size of these scales relative to those probed by observation of inspiral signals is important in determining the feasibility of fi...

One of the main goals of contemporary theoretical physics is to find the quantum theory of gravity. There are various working hypotheses, mostly operating in the regime of high-energy physics well above the reach of particle accelerators. So far, strong experimental or observational evidence to guide the theory is missing. A possible consequence of quantum gravity and quantum spacetime that is often discussed is the vacuum dispersion effect. In this paper, we consider a diffe...

The effective quantum field theory description of gravity, despite its non-renormalizability, allows for predictions beyond classical general relativity. As we enter the age of gravitational wave astronomy, an important and timely question is whether measurable quantum predictions that depart from classical gravity, analogous to quantum optics effects which cannot be explained by classical electrodynamics, can be found. In this work, we investigate quantum signatures in gravi...

We review the state of the field of gravitational wave astrophysics, framing the challenges, current observations, and future prospects within the context of the predictions of Einstein's theory of general relativity.

We show that gravitational-wave astronomy has the potential to inform us on quantum aspects of black holes. Based on Bekenstein's quantization, we find that black hole area discretization could impart observable imprints to the gravitational-wave signal from a pair of merging black holes, affecting their absorption properties during inspiral and their late-time relaxation after merger. In contrast with previous results, we find that black hole rotation, ubiquitous in astrophy...

Black holes are more than just odd-looking curiosities in gravity theory. They uniquely intertwine the basic principles of General Relativity with those of Quantum Theory. Just by demanding that they nevertheless obey acceptable laws of dynamics, just like stars and planets, we hit upon strange structures that must play key roles in the quantum effects that we expect in the gravitational force at ultrashort distance scales. It is explained why, in our approach to address the ...

Quantum gravity remains an elusive theory, in spite of our thorough understanding of the quantum theory and the general theory of relativity separately, presumably due to the lack of any observational clues. We argue that the theory of quantum gravity has a strong constraining anchor in the sector of gravitational radiation ensuring reliable physical clues, albeit in a limited observable form. In particular, all types of gravitational waves expected to be observable in LIGO-l...

In this paper we try to answer the main question: what is a quantum black hole?