Proper time to the black hole singularity from thermal one-point functions

TL;DR

This paper proposes a method to determine the proper time from the black hole horizon to the singularity using thermal one-point functions of specific fields, especially those coupled to higher curvature terms, by varying the field's mass.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to extract the proper time to the singularity from thermal expectation values, applicable to fields coupled to higher curvature terms.

Findings

Proper time can be obtained from thermal one-point functions.

Method applies to fields that decay into gravitons.

Varying the field's mass is essential for extraction.

Abstract

We argue that the proper time from the horizon to the black hole singularity can be extracted from the thermal expectation values of certain operators outside the horizon. This works for fields which couple to higher curvature terms, so that they can decay into two gravitons. To extract this time, it is necessary to vary the mass of the field.