QUANTUM gravitational effects are usually ignored in calculations of the formation and evolution of black holes. The justification for this is that the radius of curvature of space-time outside the event horizon is very large compared to the Planck length (Għ/c3)1/2 ≈ 10−33 cm, the length scale on which quantum fluctuations of the metric are expected to be of order unity. This means that the energy density of particles created by the gravitational field is small compared to the space-time curvature. Even though quantum effects may be small locally, they may still, however, add up to produce a significant effect over the lifetime of the Universe ≈ 1017 s which is very long compared to the Planck time ≈ 10−43 s. The purpose of this letter is to show that this indeed may be the case: it seems that any black hole will create and emit particles such as neutrinos or photons at just the rate that one would expect if the black hole was a body with a temperature of (κ/2π) (ħ/2k) ≈ 10−6 (M/M)K where κ is the surface gravity of the black hole1. As a black hole emits this thermal radiation one would expect it to lose mass. This in turn would increase the surface gravity and so increase the rate of emission. The black hole would therefore have a finite life of the order of 1071 (M/M)−3 s. For a black hole of solar mass this is much longer than the age of the Universe. There might, however, be much smaller black holes which were formed by fluctuations in the early Universe2. Any such black hole of mass less than 1015 g would have evaporated by now. Near the end of its life the rate of emission would be very high and about 1030 erg would be released in the last 0.1 s. This is a fairly small explosion by astronomical standards but it is equivalent to about 1 million 1 Mton hydrogen bombs. It is often said that nothing can escape from a black hole. But in 1974, Stephen Hawking realized that, owing to quantum effects, black holes should emit particles with a thermal distribution of energies — as if the black hole had a temperature inversely proportional to its mass. In addition to putting black-hole thermodynamics on a firmer footing, this discovery led Hawking to postulate 'black hole explosions', as primordial black holes end their lives in an accelerating release of energy.

Black Hole Explosions

Gravitational Field of a Spinning Mass as an Example of Algebraically Special Metrics

When all thermonuclear sources of energy are exhausted a sufficiently heavy star will collapse. Unless fission due to rotation, the radiation of mass, or the blowing off of mass by radiation, reduce the star's mass to the order of that of the sun, this contraction will continue indefinitely. In the present paper we study the solutions of the gravitational field equations which describe this process. In I, general and qualitative arguments are given on the behavior of the metrical tensor as the contraction progresses: the radius of the star approaches asymptotically its gravitational radius; light from the surface of the star is progressively reddened, and can escape over a progressively narrower range of angles. In II, an analytic solution of the field equations confirming these general arguments is obtained for the case that the pressure within the star can be neglected. The total time of collapse for an observer comoving with the stellar matter is finite, and for this idealized case and typical stellar masses, of the order of a day; an external observer sees the star asymptotically shrinking to its gravitational radius.

On Continued Gravitational Contraction

Analogue gravity is a research programme which investigates analogues of
general relativistic gravitational fields within other physical systems,
typically but not exclusively condensed matter systems, with the aim of gaining
new insights into their corresponding problems Analogue models of (and for)
gravity have a long and distinguished history dating back to the earliest years
of general relativity In this review article we will discuss the history,
aims, results, and future prospects for the various analogue models We start
the discussion by presenting a particularly simple example of an analogue
model, before exploring the rich history and complex tapestry of models
discussed in the literature The last decade in particular has seen a
remarkable and sustained development of analogue gravity ideas, leading to some
hundreds of published articles, a workshop, two books, and this review article
Future prospects for the analogue gravity programme also look promising, both
on the experimental front (where technology is rapidly advancing) and on the
theoretical front (where variants of analogue models can be used as a
springboard for radical attacks on the problem of quantum gravity)

Analogue Gravity

In the classical theory black holes can only absorb and not emit particles. However it is shown that quantum mechanical effects cause black holes to create and emit particles as if they were hot bodies with temperature\(\frac{{h\kappa }}{{2\pi k}} \approx 10^{ - 6} \left( {\frac{{M_ \odot }}{M}} \right){}^ \circ K\) where κ is the surface gravity of the black hole. This thermal emission leads to a slow decrease in the mass of the black hole and to its eventual disappearance: any primordial black hole of mass less than about 1015 g would have evaporated by now. Although these quantum effects violate the classical law that the area of the event horizon of a black hole cannot decrease, there remains a Generalized Second Law:S+1/4A never decreases whereS is the entropy of matter outside black holes andA is the sum of the surface areas of the event horizons. This shows that gravitational collapse converts the baryons and leptons in the collapsing body into entropy. It is tempting to speculate that this might be the reason why the Universe contains so much entropy per baryon.

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Particle Creation by Black Holes

New methods in the theory of quantum spin systems

We argue that the possibility of having infinite energy in the center-of-mass frame of colliding particles is a generic property of rotating black holes. We suggest a general model-independent derivation valid for dirty black holes. The earlier observations for the Kerr or Kerr-Newman metrics are confirmed and generalized.

Acceleration of particles as a universal property of rotating black holes

Recently, in the series of works a new effect of acceleration of particles by black holes has been found. Under certain conditions, the energy in the center-of-mass system can become infinitely large. The essential ingredient of such effect is the rotation of a black hole. In this work, it has been argued that the similar effect exists for a nonrotating but charged black hole even for the simplest case of radial motion of particles in the Reissner-Nordstrom background. All main features of the effect under discussion due to rotating black holes have their counterpart for the nonrotating charged ones.

Acceleration of particles by nonrotating charged black holes

We give a simple and general explanation for the effect of unbound acceleration of particles by black holes. It is related to the fact that the scalar product of a timelike vector of the four-velocity of an ingoing particle and the lightlike horizon generator tends to zero in some special cases, so the condition of 'motion forward in time' is marginally satisfied. In this sense, an ingoing particle with a special relation between parameters imitates the property of infinite redshift typical of any outgoing particle near the future horizon of a black hole. We check this assertion using the Reissner–Nordstrom and rotating axially symmetric metrics as examples.

Acceleration of particles by black holes—a general explanation

Recently, in the series of works a new effect of acceleration of particles by black holes was found. Under certain conditions, the energy in the centre of mass frame can become infinitely large. The essential ingredient of such effect is the rotation of a black hole. In the present Letter, we argue that the similar effect exists for a nonrotating but charged black hole even for the simplest case of radial motion of particles in the Reissner-Nordstr\"om background. All main features of the effect under discussion due to rotating black holes have their counterpart for the nonrotating charged ones.

Oleg B. Zaslavskii

Papers

New methods in the theory of quantum spin systems

Acceleration of particles as a universal property of rotating black holes

Acceleration of particles by nonrotating charged black holes

Acceleration of particles by black holes—a general explanation

Acceleration of particles by nonrotating charged black holes