Analytic Continuation of Black Hole Entropy in Loop Quantum Gravity

We define the analytic continuation of the number of black hole microstates in Loop Quantum Gravity to complex values of the Barbero-Immirzi parameter $\gamma$. This construction deeply relies on the link between black holes and Chern-Simons theory. Technically, the key point consists in writing the number of microstates as an integral in the complex plane of a holomorphic function, and to make use of complex analysis techniques to perform the analytic continuation. Then, we study the thermodynamical properties of the corresponding system (the black hole is viewed as a gas of indistinguishable punctures) in the framework of the grand canonical ensemble where the energy is defined \'a la Frodden-Gosh-Perez from the point of view of an observer located close to the horizon. The semi-classical limit occurs at the Unruh temperature $T_U$ associated to this local observer. When $\gamma=\pm i$, the entropy reproduces at the semi-classical limit the area law with quantum corrections. Furthermore, the quantum corrections are logarithmic provided that the chemical potential is fixed to the simple value $\mu=2T_U$

Loop Quantum Cosmology with Complex Ashtekar Variables

22 pagesInternational audienceWe construct and study Loop Quantum Cosmology (LQC) when the Barbero-Immirzi parameter takes the complex value $\gamma=\pm i$. We refer to this new quantum cosmology as complex Loop Quantum Cosmology. We proceed in making an analytic continuation of the Hamiltonian constraint (with no inverse volume corrections) from real $\gamma$ to $\gamma=\pm i$ in the simple case of a flat FLRW Universe coupled to a massless scalar field with no cosmological constant. For that purpose, we first compute the non-local curvature operator (defined by the trace of the holonomy of the connection around a fundamental plaquette) evaluated in any spin $j$ representation and we find a new close formula for it. This allows to define explicitly a one parameter family of regularizations of the Hamiltonian constraint in LQC, parametrized by the spin $j$. It is immediate to see that any spin $j$ regularization leads to a bounce scenario. Then, motivated particularly by previous results on black hole thermodynamics, we perform the analytic continuation of the Hamiltonian constraint defined by $\gamma=\pm i$ and $j=-1/2+is$ where $s$ is real. Even if the area spectrum is now continuous, we show that the so-defined complex LQC removes also the original singularity which is replaced by a quantum bounce. In addition, the maximal density and the minimal volume of the Universe are obviously independent of $\gamma$. Furthermore, the dynamics before and after the bounce are no more symmetric, which makes a clear distinction between these two phases of the evolution of the Universe

Schr\"odinger symmetry of Schwarzschild-(A)dS black hole mechanics

We show that the dynamics of Schwarzschild-(A)dS black holes admit a symmetry under the 2d Schr\"{o}dinger group, whatever the sign or value of the cosmological constant. This is achieved by reformulating the spherically-symmetric reduction of general relativity as a 2d mechanical system with a non-trivial potential controlled by the cosmological constant, and explicitly identifying the conserved charges for black hole mechanics. We expect the Schr\"{o}dinger symmetry to drive the dynamics of quantum Schwarzschild-(A)dS black holes. This suggests that Schr\"{o}dinger-preserving non-linear deformations (of the Gross-Piteavskii type) should capture universal quantum gravity corrections to the black hole geometry. Such scenario could be realized in condensed matter analogue models.Comment: 9 page

Nonlinear gravitational waves in Horndeski gravity: Scalar pulse and memories

We present and analyze a new non-perturbative radiative solution of Horndeski gravity. This exact solution is constructed by a disformal mapping of a seed solution of the shift-symmetric Einstein-Scalar system belonging to the Robinson-Trautman geometry describing the gravitational radiation emitted by a time-dependent scalar monopole. After analyzing in detail the properties of the seed, we show that while the general relativity solution allows for shear-free parallel transported null frames, the disformed solution can only admit parallel transported null frames with a non-vanishing shear. This result shows that, at the nonlinear level, the scalar-tensor mixing descending from the higher-order terms in Horndeski dynamics can generate shear out of a pure scalar monopole. We further confirm this analysis by identifying the spin-0 and spin-2 polarizations in the disformed solution using the Penrose limit of our radiative solution. Finally, we compute the geodesic motion and the memory effects experienced by two null test particles with vanishing initial relative velocity after the passage of the pulse. This exact radiative solution offers a simple framework to witness nonlinear consequences of the scalar-tensor mixing in higher-order scalar-tensor theories.Comment: 31 pages, 9 figure