Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

The relation between quantum mechanics and gravity, especially as evidenced by black hole thermodynamics, forms the core of my work.1) Condensed matter systems can be analogs of gravity-quantum interaction. Analog horizons in fluid-flows quantum radiate just as black-hole horizons do. This has been shown both theoretically and experimentally. Extending both, will be the core of my work. Such systems provide a rich testing ground for the assumptions going into black hole thermodynamics and for cosmological particle creation. Analogs of the Penrose process, or superradiance, in both water tank, and optical experiments are also of interest. 2)Infomation loss and black hole decoherence-- Do black holes loose information or is the detailed entropy of the fields around an evaporated black hole identical to the entropy before the formation. Can vacuum fluctuations carry information and could they resolve the information paradox? Or is information simply lost. 3) Quantum Decoherence. Understanding the loss of quantum coherence, the loss of entanglement and of interference effects, is crucial to understanding black holes. It is clear from simple particle and condensed matter models that decoherence need not imply energy uncertainty and non-conservation. Can this be extended to field theories and black holes? In addition to decoherence due to coupling with an external environment, it can also arise form internal interactions. Self decoherence is important for both cosmology and for mundane systems (eg Schroedinger's cat). Can one model such internal decoherence, and in particular can one do experiments to demonstrate it?Can decoherence be triggered by gravity itself, as Penrose has postulated. While explicit calculation in a restricted model suggest "no", the dependence of gravitational interference on the coordinate system used is still a possibility. Gravity wave detectors are quantum limited. Are they also able to experimentally determine whether Penrose's intuition has some traction?4) Foundations of Quantum Mechanics. Does Bell show that quantum mechanics is non-local? I have argued for many years that he does not (despite what he (ambiguously) and other followers now claim). I want to spend some time sharpening my arguments to try to convince more people of my position (or to show myself wrong). 5) History of Black Holes: How did our understanding of black holes develop?How doesAll the above include international collaboration (Weinfurtner, Faccio andKoenig in UK, Schuetzhold in Germany, Wald inUSA, Hotta in Japan, Seletskiy in eastern Canada)