Cosmic Censorship from Gauge/Gravity Duality

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

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.