We propose an S matrix approach to the quantum black hole in which causality, unitarity and their interrelation play a prominent role. Assuming the t Hooft S matrix ansatz for a gravitating region surrounded by an asymptotically flat space-time we fi
nd a non-local transformation which changes the standard causality requirement but is a symmetry of the unitarity condition of the S matrix. This new S matrix then implies correlations between the in and out states of the theory with the involvement of a third entity which in the case of a quantum black hole, we argue is the horizon S matrix. Such correlations are thus linked to preserving the unitarity of the S matrix and to the fact that entangling unitary operators are nonlocal. The analysis is performed within the Bogoliubov S matrix framework by considering a spacetime consisting of causal complements with a boundary in between. No particular metric or lagrangian dynamics need be invoked even to obtain an evolution equation for the full S matrix. Constraints imposed by the new causality requirement and implications for the effectiveness of field theoretical descriptions and for complementarity are also discussed. We find that the tension between information preservation and complementarity may be resolved provided the full quantum gravity theory either through symmetries or fine tuning forbids the occurrence of closed time like curves of information flow. Then, even if causality is violated near the horizon at any intermediate stage, a standard causal ordering may be preserved for the observer away from the horizon. In the context of the black hole, the novelty of our formulation is that it appears well suited to understand unitarity at any intermediate stage of black hole evaporation. Moreover, it is applicable generally to all theories with long range correlations including the final state projection models.
The infrared behavior of perturbative quantum gravity is studied using the method developed for QED by Faddeev and Kulish. The operator describing the asymptotic dynamics is derived and used to construct an IR-finite S matrix and space of asymptotic
states. All-orders cancellation of IR divergences is shown explicitly at the level of matrix elements for the example case of gravitational potential scattering. As a practical application of the formalism, the soft part of a scalar scattering amplitude is related to the gravitational Wilson line and computed to all orders.
We consider the relativistic scattering of unequal-mass scalar particles through graviton exchange in the small-angle high-energy regime. We show the self-consistency of expansion around the eikonal limit and compute the scattering amplitude up to th
e next-to-leading power correction of the light particle energy, including gravitational effects of the same order. The first power correction is suppressed by a single power of the ratio of momentum transfer to the energy of the light particle in the rest frame of the heavy particle, independent of the heavy particle mass. We find that only gravitational corrections contribute to the exponentiated phase in impact parameter space in four dimensions. For large enough heavy-particle mass, the saddle point for the impact parameter is modified compared to the leading order by a multiple of the Schwarzschild radius determined by the mass of the heavy particle, independent of the energy of the light particle.
Investigations of high-energy graviton-graviton and gluon-gluon scattering are performed in the leading eikonal approximation for the kinematic regime of large center of mass energy and low momentum transfer. We find a double copy relation between th
e amplitudes of the two theories to all loop orders when, on the gauge theory side, we retain only the set of diagrams at each loop order for which the collinear divergences cancel amongst themselves. For this to happen the color structure of all diagrams in the set must be identical. Using standard field theoretic methods, it is shown that this relation is reflected in a similar double copy relationship between the classical shockwaves of the two theories as well.
We point out that a field theory that exhibits the classicalization phenomenon for perfect spherical symmetry ceases to do so when the spherical symmetry is significantly relaxed. We first investigate a small non-spherical deformation and show that t
he classicalization radius tends to decrease in a region where a shell made of the field is slightly flattened. Next, in order to describe a sufficiently large flattened region, we consider a high-energy collision of planar shells and show that the system never classicalizes before reaching sub-cutoff lengths. This no-go result is further strengthened by an analysis of a small non-planar deformation. Finally, we show that the shape of a scattered planar wave is UV sensitive.
Collinear and soft divergences in perturbative quantum gravity are investigated to arbitrary orders in amplitudes for wide-angle scattering, using methods developed for gauge theories. We show that collinear singularities cancel when all such diverge
nt diagrams are summed over, by using the gravitational Ward identity that decouples the unphysical polarizations from the S-matrix. This analysis generalizes a result previously demonstrated in the eikonal approximation. We also confirm that the only virtual graviton corrections that give soft logarithmic divergences are of the ladder and crossed ladder type.
Numerical simulations of the accretion of test scalar fields with non-standard kinetic terms (of the k-essence type) onto a Schwarzschild black hole are performed. We find a full dynamical solution for the spherical accretion of a Dirac-Born-Infeld t
ype scalar field. The simulations show that the accretion eventually settles down to a well known stationary solution. This particular analytical steady state solution maintains two separate horizons. The standard horizon is for the usual particles propagating with the limiting speed of light, while the other sonic horizon is for the k-essence perturbations propagating with the speed of sound around this accreting background. For the case where the k-essence perturbations propagate superluminally, we show that one can send signals from within a black hole during the approach to the stationary solution. We also find that a ghost condensate model settles down to a stationary solution during the accretion process.
We perform numerical simulations of the gravitational collapse of a k-essence scalar field. When the field is sufficiently strongly gravitating, a black hole forms. However, the black hole has two horizons: a light horizon (the ordinary black hole ho
rizon) and a sound horizon that traps k-essence. In certain cases the k-essence signals can travel faster than light and the sound horizon is inside the light horizon. Under those circumstances, k-essence signals can escape from the black hole. Eventually, the two horizons merge and the k-essence signals can no longer escape.
Numerical simulations are performed of a test scalar field in a spacetime undergoing gravitational collapse. The behavior of the scalar field near the singularity is examined and implications for generic singularities are discussed. In particular, ou
r example is the first confirmation of the BKL conjecture for an asymptotically flat spacetime.
We argue that superluminal propagation in a gravitational field discovered by Drummond and Hathrell in the lowest order of perturbation theory remains intact in higher orders. The criticism of this result based on an exact calculation of the one loop
correction to the photon polarization operator in the Penrose plane wave approximation is not tenable. The statement that quantum causality is automatically imposed by classical causality is possibly invalid due to the infrared nature of the same triangle diagram which also contributes to the quantum trace anomaly.
