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Cited by 4,085Black Holes and Theoretical PhysicsNoncommutative and Quantum Gravity TheoriesParticle physics theoretical and experimental studies

The world as a hologram

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Susskind, Leonard·1995·Journal of Mathematical Physics
DOI 10.1063/1.531249
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Abstract

According to ’t Hooft the combination of quantum mechanics and gravity requires the three-dimensional world to be an image of data that can be stored on a two-dimensional projection much like a holographic image. The two-dimensional description only requires one discrete degree of freedom per Planck area and yet it is rich enough to describe all three-dimensional phenomena. After outlining ’t Hooft’s proposal we give a preliminary informal description of how it may be implemented. One finds a basic requirement that particles must grow in size as their momenta are increased far above the Planck scale. The consequences for high-energy particle collisions are described. The phenomenon of particle growth with momentum was previously discussed in the context of string theory and was related to information spreading near black hole horizons. The considerations of this paper indicate that the effect is much more rapid at all but the earliest times. In fact the rate of spreading is found to saturate the bound from causality. Finally we consider string theory as a possible realization of ’t Hooft’s idea. The light front lattice string model of Klebanov and Susskind is reviewed and its similarities with the holographic theory are demonstrated. The agreement between the two requires unproven but plausible assumptions about the nonperturbative behavior of string theory. Very similar ideas to those in this paper have long been held by Charles Thorn.

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  • During expansion epochs, the ratio ρimp/ρm ∝ a−β+3 remains subdominant for β<3, and becomes dynamically important only near the bounce when ρimp→ρsat.

    “During expansion epochs, the ratio ρimp/ρm∝a−β+3 remains subdominant for β<3 (as satisfied above), and becomes dynamically important only near the bounce when ρimp→ρsat [26,27].”

    From Counting Cosmic Cycles: Past Big Crunches, Future Recurrence Limits, and the Age of the Quantum Memory Matrix Universe (2025) · cites this paper as [27]

  • This is a manifestation of the holographic entropy bound of [50].

    “This is a manifestation of the holographic entropy bound of [50].”

    From Bulk locality and quantum error correction in AdS/CFT (2015) · cites this paper as [50]

  • The holographic principle states that all physical data inside a volume of spacetime can be represented by data encoded on its boundary.

    “All physical data inside a volume of spacetime may be presented on its outer surface; the main problems describe locality as well as dimensionality.”

    From Holographic Principle Applications to Cosmology (2025) · cites this paper as Susskind, 1995

  • The causal-patch description of spacetime derives from the holographic principle and black-hole complementarity.

    “An interesting perspective on the likelihood of different initial conditions for the universe arises from the causal-patch description of spacetime [52, 53, 54, 55]. 1 This view derives from two profound lessons of black-hole physics: the holographic principle [59, 60, 61] and blackhole complementarity [62].”

    From Spontaneous inflation and the origin of the arrow of time (2004) · cites this paper as [60]

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Authors
Susskind, L.
Affiliations
Stanford University (US)
Corresponding author
Susskind, Leonard
ORCID
Susskind, Leonard
Venue
Journal of Mathematical Physics
Publisher
AIP Publishing
Published
1995-11-01
Volume
36
Issue
11
Pages
6377-6396
ISSN
  • 0022-2488 (ISSN-L)
  • 1089-7658
DOI
10.1063/1.531249
OpenAlex
W2141586044
Cited by
4,085
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 218 · 2025: 299 · 2024: 220 · 2023: 176 · 2022: 171 · 2021: 200 · 2020: 166 · 2019: 182 · 2018: 139 · 2017: 159 · 2016: 174 · 2015: 162 · 2014: 161 · 2013: 166 · 2012: 148
FWCI
20.36
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Mathematical Physics (publishedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
  • CERN Document Server (European Organization for Nuclear Research) (submittedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Nuclear and High Energy Physics › Black Holes and Theoretical Physics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Statistical and Nonlinear Physics › Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Nuclear and High Energy Physics › Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies
Keywords
holographic principle, 't Hooft, quantum gravity, Planck scale, high-energy collisions, event horizon, information dissemination, causality bounds, non-perturbative string theory

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