Quantum black holes as solvents

Most of the entropy in the current universe is believed to be in the form of Bekenstein-Hawking (BH) entropy of super-massive black holes. This entropy is proportional to the area of the horizon in units of Planck area, or, alternatively, proportional to the square of the mass of the black hole in units of Planck mass. In the “strong interpretation” BH entropy is assumed to satisfy Boltzmann’s formula S = log N. The question then arises what is the huge phase space volume N available to the universe after a gravitational collapse, but not before. Inspired by recent proposals for table-top experiments to show (or disprove) that gravity acts quantum-mechanically, I will discuss the possibility that N can be a massive entanglement of the matter in black hole with its own gravitational field, and some consequences of such an idea. This is joint work Michal Eckstein and Pawel Horodecki, available as [arXiv:1912.08607].

Note from the organisers: On behalf of the director of KCIK, prof. Karol Życzkowski, we have the pleasure to invite you to the seminar “Mathematical Aspects of Quantum Theory”. The seminar will be taking place biweekly on Tuesdays at 10:10 am in the cosy KCIK building in Sopot (http://kcik.ug.edu.pl/contact.php?go=details). The goal of the seminar is to foster inspiring discussions in a friendly informal atmosphere. There will be coffee, tea and cakes waiting for you from 9:40! Should you wish to give a talk during the seminar, please contact the organisers: Michał Eckstein, michal@eckstein.pl; Ryszard Kostecki, Ryszard.Kostecki@fuw.edu.pl.