2004/12/01 by Adam D. Helfer
Physics and Astronomy · #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories #Quantum Electrodynamics and Casimir Effect #gr-qc
paper · pdf · doi:10.1142/s021827180400636x
published as Int.J.Mod.Phys. D13 (2004) 2299-2305 · 7 pages, 5 figures. Honorable mention in the 2004 Gravity Research Foundation Essay Competition
openalex publication_date 2004/12/01 · arxiv created 2005/03/11 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
I reconsider Hawking's analysis of the effects of gravitational collapse on quantum fields, taking into account interactions between the fields. The ultra-high energy vacuum fluctuations, which had been considered to be an awkward peripheral feature of the analysis, are shown to play a key role. By interactions, they can scatter particles to, or create pairs of particle at, ultra-high energies. The energies rapidly become so great that quantum gravity must play a dominant role. Thus the vicinities of black holes are essentially quantum-gravitational regimes.