Shear viscosity of a highly excited string and the black hole membrane paradigm

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that the shear viscosity of a black hole's stretched horizon membrane can be modeled by a highly excited string, linking black hole physics with string theory.

Contribution

It provides a novel connection between the black hole membrane paradigm and string theory by reproducing the shear viscosity using a highly excited string model.

Findings

Shear viscosity of the membrane matches that of a highly excited string.

The string model reproduces the viscosity up to a numerical coefficient.

Supports the idea of string-theoretic descriptions of black hole horizons.

Abstract

Black hole membrane paradigm states that a certain viscous membrane seems to be sitting on a stretched horizon of a black hole from the viewpoint of a distant observer. We show that the shear viscosity of the fictitious membrane can be reproduced by a highly excited string covering the stretched horizon except for a numerical coefficient.