Higher curvature corrections to the black hole Wheeler-DeWitt equation and the annihilation to nothing scenario

TL;DR

This paper investigates higher-curvature corrections to the Wheeler-DeWitt equation in black hole physics, revealing divergences near singularities that challenge the validity of low-energy effective theories and emphasizing the need for UV-complete frameworks.

Contribution

It demonstrates that incorporating higher-curvature corrections causes divergences in the WDW wave function, highlighting the breakdown of EFT near singularities and the necessity for UV-complete theories.

Findings

Higher-curvature corrections induce divergences near singularities.

EFT descriptions break down in the high-curvature regime.

UV-complete theories are required for resolving black hole singularities.

Abstract

We revisit Yeom's annihilation-to-nothing scenario using a modified Wheeler-DeWitt (WDW) equation incorporating higher-curvature corrections. We show that, once these corrections are taken into account, the WDW wave function exhibits severe divergences arising from contributions near the classical singularity. These divergences indicate that the low-energy effective field theory (EFT) description breaks down in this regime. Given that general relativity (GR) itself is merely a low-energy effective field theory (EFT) of an underlying ultraviolet (UV) theory, our results suggest that any attempted resolution of the black hole singularity cannot be reliably discussed within the EFT framework. Our analysis does not contradict Yeom's conjecture, but emphasizes that the annihilation-to-nothing scenario should be discussed within a UV-complete theoretical framework. It further clarifies that any genuine resolution of the singularity necessarily requires a framework capable of appropriately describing ultraviolet physics, such as degrees of freedom beyond those captured by GR or dynamics consistently defined up to arbitrarily high energy scales.