The secret structure of the gravitational vacuum

Abstract

We argue that the vacuum of quantum gravity must contain a hierarchical structure of correlations spanning all length scales. These correlated domains (called `vecros') correspond to virtual fluctuations of black hole microstates. Larger fluctuations are suppressed by their larger action, but this suppression is offset by a correspondingly larger phase space of possible configurations. We give an explicit lattice model of these vecro fluctuations, noting how their distribution changes as the gravitational pull of a star becomes stronger. At the threshold of formation of a closed trapped surface, these virtual fluctuations transition into on-shell black hole microstates (fuzzballs). Fuzzballs radiate from their surface like normal bodies, resolving the information paradox. We also argue that any model without vecro-type extended vacuum correlations cannot resolve the paradox.

17 pages, 5 figures, Essay awarded second prize in Gravity Research Foundation Essay Competition 2024, Comments added on the behavior of an observer inside the hole