Towers of Gravitational Theories

TL;DR

This paper develops a multi-scale theoretical framework for black hole dynamics using a Wilsonian approach, leading to new insights into black hole phase transitions, interactions, and potential observational dualities.

Contribution

It introduces a tower of gravity theories at different scales, connecting black hole horizon physics to gravitational wave measurements, and provides new results in black hole phase transitions and interactions.

Findings

New framework for black hole dynamics across scales

Insights into phase transitions of Kaluza-Klein black holes

Connections between horizon dualities and gravitational wave data

Abstract

In this essay we introduce a theoretical framework designed to describe black hole dynamics. The difficulties in understanding such dynamics stems from the proliferation of scales involved when one attempts to simultaneously describe all of the relevant dynamical degrees of freedom. These range from the modes that describe the black hole horizon, which are responsible for dissipative effects, to the long wavelength gravitational radiation that drains mechanical energy from macroscopic black hole bound states. We approach the problem from a Wilsonian point of view, by building a tower of theories of gravity each of which is valid at different scales. The methodology leads to multiple new results in diverse topics including phase transitions of Kaluza-Klein black holes and the interactions of spinning black hole in non-relativistic orbits. Moreover, our methods tie together speculative ideas regarding dualities for black hole horizons to real physical measurements in gravitational wave detectors.