Cosmic Censorship, Area Theorem, and Self-Energy of Particles

TL;DR

This paper uses Hawking's area theorem to derive bounds on particle self-energy near black holes, highlighting its importance for the validity of the cosmic censorship conjecture.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to bounding particle self-energy using the area theorem, linking quantum corrections to classical cosmic censorship.

Findings

Self-energy corrections are essential for cosmic censorship.

Bounds on particle self-energy near black holes are derived.

Self-energy must be considered for accurate black hole physics.

Abstract

The (zeroth-order) energy of a particle in the background of a black hole is given by Carter's integrals. However, exact calculations of a particle's {\it self-energy} (first-order corrections) are still beyond our present reach in many situations. In this paper we use Hawking's area theorem in order to derive bounds on the self-energy of a particle in the vicinity of a black hole. Furthermore, we show that self-energy corrections {\it must} be taken into account in order to guarantee the validity of Penrose cosmic censorship conjecture.