String Theory Versus Black Hole Complementarity

TL;DR

The paper investigates how string theory's unique features, like localized zero modes at black hole tips, challenge the classical black hole complementarity principle and relate to black hole entropy and firewalls.

Contribution

It demonstrates that string theory admits a localized zero mode at the black hole tip, conflicting with classical complementarity and offering insights into entropy and firewall issues.

Findings

String theory admits a zero mode localized at the black hole tip.

This zero mode challenges the classical notion of the black hole horizon.

The zero mode may be linked to black hole entropy and firewall phenomena.

Abstract

It is argued that string theory on the Euclidean version of the Schwarzschild black hole -- the cigar geometry -- admits a zero mode that is localized at the tip of the cigar. The presence of this mode implies that in string theory, unlike in general relativity, the tip of the cigar is a special region. This is in tension with the Euclidean version of the black hole complementarity principle. We provide some qualitative arguments that link between this zero mode and the origin of the black hole entropy and firewall at the horizon.