Cosmic Censorship from Gauge/Gravity Duality

这项研究围绕着引力物理学的量子性质展开。要完整地描述宇宙的物理学，就需要解释那些涉及到大质量物体的现象，这些现象在引力物理学中得到了很好的描述，而在非常小的尺度上，这些现象则由量子理论描述。这两种理论的统一，即引力的量子理论，将描述空间和时间的基本性质，宇宙开始的最早阶段，以及众所周知的神秘的黑洞内部。这个研究项目通过询问原则上是否有可能直接观察到天体物理事件（如黑洞坍缩）中引力的量子性质来解决这个问题;如果没有，那么为什么不呢？来自引力物理学各个方面的工具和技术将被用来回答这个问题，目的是深入了解量子引力的内部运作。这项研究的结果将通过出版物和会谈、讲座和座谈会传播给专业界。该计划的一个组成部分涉及初级科学家的培训，从研究生到博士后研究员，以及与公众的联系。这项工作，作为对自然的基本组成部分的调查，旨在阐明在科学工作中一直处于公众兴趣焦点的主题：宇宙的起源和黑洞内部。PI将通过各种外展渠道向广泛的社区传达这项工作的成果，以更好地了解当前量子引力的科学事业，并促进公众的科学素养。更具体地说，该项目将调查量子引力中所谓的宇宙审查猜想的有效性，含义和适当的表述。这一猜想涉及奇点：时空弯曲到广义相对论无法精确描述的区域。宇宙监督假说暗示引力坍缩只能导致隐藏在事件视界后面的奇点。在这个项目中采取的方法将使用来自经典几何和广义相对论的技术以及全息术的工具的协同作用，全息术是一种根据低维量子场论制定的量子引力，以研究这个猜想并在必要时重新制定它。该方法的范围将从一个正式的证明为基础的数学技术的组合计算推导，可能辅以一些数值模拟。宇宙审查是否在量子引力中成立，以及它的正确表述是什么，对于理解引力物理学至关重要。如果有可能直接观测到形成可见奇点的引力过程，那么这种过程对于量子引力特征的天体物理搜索具有潜在意义;如果原则上不可能，这个奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并且通过使用基金会的知识分子进行评估，被认为是值得支持的。优点和更广泛的影响审查标准。

This research revolves around the quantum nature of gravitational physics. A complete description of the physics of the universe requires an explanation for phenomena that involve highly massive bodies, well-described by gravitational physics, on very small scales, which are described by quantum theory. The unification of the two theories, a quantum theory of gravity, would describe the fundamental nature of space and time, the earliest stages of the beginning of the universe, and the notoriously mysterious interior of black holes. This research project approaches this problem by asking whether it is in principle possible to directly observe the quantum nature of gravity in an astrophysical event such as the collapse to a black hole; and if not, then why not? Tools and techniques from various aspects of gravitational physics will be used to answer this question with the goal of gaining insights into the inner workings of quantum gravity. The results of this research will be disseminated to the professional community via publications and talks, lectures, and colloquia. An integral component of this program involves the training of junior scientists, from graduate students to postdoctoral fellows, as well as outreach to the general public. This work, as an investigation into the fundamental building blocks of nature, aims to shed light on topics that have continuously been at the focal point of public interest in scientific endeavors: the beginning of the universe and the black hole interior. The PI will communicate the outcomes of this work to a broad community via various outreach avenues to provide a better understanding of the current scientific enterprise of quantum gravity and promote scientific literacy within the general public.More specifically, this project will investigate the validity, implications, and appropriate formulation of the so-called cosmic censorship conjecture in quantum gravity. This conjecture concerns singularities: regions where spacetime is so curved that General Relativity no longer accurately describes it. The hypothesis of cosmic censorship implies that gravitational collapse can only result in a singularity that is cloaked behind an event horizon. The approach taken in this project will use a synergy of techniques from classical geometry and General Relativity and tools from holography, a formulation of quantum gravity in terms of lower-dimensional quantum field theory, to investigate this conjecture and reformulate it if necessary. The methodology will range from a combination of formal proof-based mathematical techniques to computational derivations, potentially supplemented by some numerical simulations. Whether cosmic censorship holds in quantum gravity, and what is its correct formulation, is of paramount importance for an understanding of gravitational physics. If there is a possibility of directly observing a gravitational process that forms a visible singularity, then such processes are of potential significance for astrophysical searches of quantum gravity signatures; if it is in principle impossible, then this insight constitutes a deep fact about the nature of quantum gravity.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.