Member Seminar

Speaker: Daniel Kapec (CMSA)

Title: Black Holes as Quantum Systems

Abstract: To an outside observer, a black hole appears to be an ordinary quantum mechanical system with finite entropy and highly chaotic internal dynamics. Nevertheless, the low-temperature thermodynamics of the Kerr black hole presents several puzzles. For instance, the leading order semiclassical approximation to the black hole density of states predicts a surprisingly large ground state degeneracy, while poorly understood quantum corrections are known to become increasingly important at low temperatures. I will review the modern picture of black holes as quantum systems and then discuss a recent result on the leading correction to the low-temperature thermodynamics of the Kerr black hole that resolves many of the old puzzles.