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A black hole’s claim to fame is that nothing can escape it. However
quantum effects entail that a black hole emits thermal radiation and has
an entropy equal to a quarter of its surface area in Planck units. This in
turn implies the existence of black hole microstates, something
inconceivable in classical gravity. The appearance of Planck units
suggests Quantum Gravity holds the key to the puzzle.
String theory, a theory of quantum gravity, provides an alternative
picture of black holes as sort of molecules, i..e bound states of more
fundamental objects. Microscopic state counting of these bound states
reproduces black hole entropy. I will discuss how this remarkable feat is
achieved.
However thermality is much more than entropy. More so for black holes,
which have been argued to be maximally chaotic systems and fast
scramblers. These developments call for a thorough study of microscopic
dynamics of black holes, especially of chaos, scrambling, thermalization,
ergodicity etc. I will describe my future research plans in this
direction. Time permitting, I will touch upon some other developments in
the subject and my related research plans. |