Quantum Field and Gravitational Waves in Black Holes and the Early Universe

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This award supports research aimed at understanding the consequences of quantum field processes at the late stage evolution of black holes and exploring how gravity interfaces with quantum measurements in atomic-optical and mesoscopic systems. The aim is to determine the magnitude of metric fluctuations near the black hole horizon due to quantum fields, and how Hawking radiation back-reacts on and affects the state and dynamics of a black hole, under quasi-equilibrium (in a box) and non-equilibrium (evaporating) conditions. This study is essential to assess the validity of claims based on semiclassical gravity, pertaining to the black hole end-state and information loss issues. Study of gravitational effects in quantum systems explores the intersection of general relativity and quantum mechanics, rather than hasten to force their union, as is customarily done in quantum gravity---how gravity interacts with atomic-optical and mesoscopic systems and affects quantum measurements and how quantum and stochastic forces introduce corrections to geodesics, and whether gravitational fields play a special role in decohering quantum systems. This investigation draws on techniques and insights from a number of fields of physics, and in turn contributes to these fields.