Absorption spectroscopy of quantum black holes with gravitational waves

TL;DR

This paper proposes that gravitational waves could reveal quantum properties of black holes, similar to how electromagnetic spectroscopy uncovered quantum features of atoms, potentially opening new observational avenues in quantum gravity.

Contribution

It introduces the idea that gravitational radiation can be used to study quantum aspects of black holes, paralleling atomic spectroscopy in quantum mechanics.

Findings

Gravitational waves may encode quantum information about black holes.

Gravitational-wave astronomy could enable observational tests of black hole quantum properties.

Abstract

The observation of electromagnetic radiation emitted or absorbed by matter was instrumental in revealing the quantum properties of atoms and molecules in the early XX century, and constituted a turning-point in the development of the quantum theory. Quantum mechanics changes dramatically the way radiation and matter interact, making the probability of emission and absorption of light strongly frequency dependent, as clearly manifested in atomic spectra. In this essay, we advocate that gravitational radiation can play, for the quantum aspects of black holes, a similar role as electromagnetic radiation did for atoms, and that the advent of gravitational-wave astronomy can bring this fascinating possibility to the realm of observations.