Spherically symmetric space-times in effective LQG
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Date
2024-12
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University of New Brunswick
Abstract
Black holes are among the most enigmatic objects in our universe. Although many decades have been dedicated to their study, illuminating several of their key features, there is still very little understood about what happens at their center. At this location general relativity leads to a singularity and it is widely believed that a theory of quantum gravity is necessary to understand the structure of space-time in the vicinity of this point.
In this thesis, we discuss the application of a candidate theory of quantum gravity, namely loop quantum gravity (LQG), to study spherically symmetric black holes. We start in Chapter 2 by developing a framework for an effective LQG description of spherically symmetric black holes in vacuum and analyze the structure of this space-time in depth. In Chapters 3 and 4, we extend this framework by including matter and study black holes that form due to gravitational collapse. We study the dynamics and causal structure of these space-times in depth to uncover new black hole properties that are not captured by the classical theory including: a space-time that is free from strong singularities (although weak singularities in the form of shell-crossings can and do form quite generically) and the formation of shockwaves that will eventually move beyond the outer horizon, marking the “death” of the black hole. Further, we estimate the black hole lifetime to be on the order of M2, where M is the black hole mass.