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Cited by 1,081Black Holes and Theoretical PhysicsNoncommutative and Quantum Gravity TheoriesAstrophysical Phenomena and Observations

The stretched horizon and black hole complementarity

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Susskind, Leonard, Thorlacius, Lárus, Uglum, John·1993·Physical Review D
DOI 10.1103/physrevd.48.3743
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Abstract

Three postulates asserting the validity of conventional quantum theory, semiclassical general relativity, and the statistical basis for thermodynamics are introduced as a foundation for the study of black-hole evolution. We explain how these postulates may be implemented in a "stretched horizon" or membrane description of the black hole, appropriate to a distant observer. The technical analysis is illustrated in the simplified context of (1+1)-dimensional dilaton gravity. Our postulates imply that the dissipative properties of the stretched horizon arise from a course graining of microphysical degrees of freedom that the horizon must possess. A principle of black-hole complementarity is advocated. The overall viewpiont is similar to that poineered by 't Hooft but the detailed implementation is different.

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Crossref · 10.1103/physrevd.48.3743

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  • Black hole complementarity postulates that the violation cannot be observed operationally via a quantum complexity conjecture due to Harlow and Hayden.

    “A simple way to resolve this paradox is to invoke the philosophy of black hole complementarity [254,255] which postulates that the violation cannot be observed operationally via a quantum complexity conjecture due to Harlow and Hayden [256]”

    From Holographic spacetime, black holes and quantum error correcting codes: a review (2022) · cites this paper as [254]

  • 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 [62]

  • Black-hole complementarity suggests that consistent descriptions of physical situations may only include events within the horizon of a single observer.

    “Blackhole complementarity, meanwhile, suggests that consistent descriptions of physical situations may only include events within the horizon of a single observer.”

    From Spontaneous inflation and the origin of the arrow of time (2004) · cites this paper as [62]

  • The quantum description of a causal patch should obey ordinary quantum mechanics and unitary evolution, treating it as a closed isolated box bounded by the observer's horizon.

    “In other words, the theory describes a closed isolated box bounded by the observer's horizon, and makes reference to no other region.”

    From Disturbing Implications of a Cosmological Constant (2002) · cites this paper as [2]

  • The transplanckian problem in Hawking radiation is an artifact of using quantum field theory on both sides of the horizon; black hole complementarity instead describes the black hole with strongly interacting Planck- or string-scale degrees of freedom outside the horizon.

    “We now know that this is an artifact of trying to describe the complex interacting degrees of freedom of the horizon by quantum field theory defined on both the interior and exterior of the black hole.”

    From Disturbing Implications of a Cosmological Constant (2002) · cites this paper as [2]

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Cites

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Research works printed but not linked: 8

  1. [1]1. S. W. Hawking, Comm .Math. Phys. 43 (1975), 199, Phys. Rev. D14 (1976), 2460.
  2. [2]2. For an early critique of Hawking's proposal, see D. N. Page, Phys. Rev. Lett. 44 (1980), 301.
  3. [6]6. R. S. Hanni and R. Ruffini, Phys. Rev. D8 (1973), 3259; P. Hajicek, Comm. Math. Phys. 36 (1974), 305; R. L. Znajek, Mon. Not. Roy. Astron. Soc. 185 (1978), 833.
  4. [7]7. T. Damour, Phys. Rev. D18 (1978), 3598; Proceedings of the Second Marcel Grossmann Meeting on General Relativity, ed. R. Ruffini, p. 587, (North-Holland, Amsterdam)
  5. [8]8. 1982; Univer- R. L. Znajek, 'Black Holes, Apparent Horizons, Entropy, and Temperature,' sity of Cambridge manuscript, 1981, unpublished; 'A Hartle-Hawking Formula for Apparent Horizons,' University of Cambridge manuscript, 1981, unpublished.
  6. [8]8. K. S. Thorne and D. A. MacDonald, Mon. Not. Roy. Astron. Soc. 198 (1982), 339; W. H. Zurek and K. S. Thorne, Phys. Rev. Lett. 54 (1985), 2171; R. H. Price and K. S. Thorne, Phys. Rev. D33 (1986), 915.
  7. [16]16. S. W. Hawking, Phys. Rev. Lett. 69 (1992), 406.
  8. [27]27. D. N. Page, Black Hole Information, University of Alberta preprint, Alberta-Thy-2393, May 1993, and references therein.

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Authors
Susskind, L., Thorlacius, L., & Uglum, J.
Affiliations
Stanford University (US)
ORCID
Susskind, Leonard
Venue
Physical Review D
Publisher
American Physical Society (APS)
Published
1993-10-15
Volume
48
Issue
8
Pages
3743-3761
ISSN
0556-2821 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1103/physrevd.48.3743
OpenAlex
W2127668517
Cited by
1,081
References
35
Citations by year
2026: 23 · 2025: 52 · 2024: 47 · 2023: 44 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 54 · 2020: 59 · 2019: 46 · 2018: 53 · 2017: 48 · 2016: 62 · 2015: 58 · 2014: 69 · 2013: 44 · 2012: 26
FWCI
23.94
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
link.aps.org/licenses/aps-default-license (vor)
Locations
  • Physical review. D. Particles, fields, gravitation, and cosmology/Physical review. D. Particles and fields (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
  • CERN Document Server (European Organization for Nuclear Research) (submittedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University)
Funders
National Science Foundation
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 › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations
Keywords
stretched horizon, black hole complementarity, black hole thermodynamics, membrane paradigm, dilaton gravity, 1+1 dimensional gravity, quantum foundations, coarse-graining

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