Black Hole Decay and Quantum Instantons

TL;DR

This paper explores the analytic structure of the S-matrix in quantum gravity, revealing that its poles correspond to quantum instantons related to black hole quasi-normal modes, offering insights into black hole decay.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of quantum instantons as solutions from the Euclidean Wheeler-DeWitt equation linked to black hole quasi-normal modes.

Findings

Poles in the S-matrix correspond to quantum instantons.

Wave functions satisfy boundary conditions similar to black hole quasi-normal modes.

Quantum instantons are related to bounded states in Euclidean quantum gravity.

Abstract

We study the analytic structure of the S-matrix which is obtained from the reduced Wheeler-DeWitt wave function describing spherically symmetric gravitational collapse of massless scalar fields. The complex simple poles in the S-matrix lead to the wave functions that satisfy the same boundary condition as quasi-normal modes of a black hole, and correspond to the bounded states of the Euclidean Wheeler-DeWitt equation. These wave function are interpreted as quantum instantons.