Gravity seminar - Michael Kavic Seminar

 

Pulsars are some of the most accurate clocks found in nature, while black holes offer a unique arena for the study of quantum gravity. As such, pulsar-black hole (PSR-BH) binaries provide ideal astrophysical systems for detecting effects of quantum gravity. With the success of aLIGO and the advent of instruments like the SKA and eLISA, the prospects for discovery of such PSR-BH binaries are very promising. In this talk we will explore how PSR-BH binaries can serve as ready-made testing grounds for proposed resolutions to the black hole information paradox. I will outline a method for using timing signals from a pulsar beam passing through the region near a black hole event horizon as a probe of quantum gravitational effects. In particular the fluctuations of the geometry outside a black hole lead to an increase in the measured root-mean-square deviation of arrival times of pulsar pulses traveling near the horizon. This allows for a clear observational test of the nonviolent nonlocality proposal for black hole information escape. The prospects for carrying out such an observation will be discussed.