0000000000125402
AUTHOR
Johanna Piilonen
Quantum-mechanical model of the Kerr-Newman black hole
We consider a Hamiltonian quantum theory of stationary spacetimes containing a Kerr-Newman black hole. The physical phase space of such spacetimes is just six-dimensional, and it is spanned by the mass $M$, the electric charge $Q$ and angular momentum $J$ of the hole, together with the corresponding canonical momenta. In this six-dimensional phase space we perform a canonical transformation such that the resulting configuration variables describe the dynamical properties of Kerr-Newman black holes in a natural manner. The classical Hamiltonian written in terms of these variables and their conjugate momenta is replaced by the corresponding self-adjoint Hamiltonian operator and an eigenvalue …
Geometry, pregeometry and beyond
This article explores the overall geometric manner in which human beings make sense of the world around them by means of their physical theories; in particular, in what are nowadays called pregeometric pictures of Nature. In these, the pseudo-Riemannian manifold of general relativity is considered a flawed description of spacetime and it is attempted to replace it by theoretical constructs of a different character, ontologically prior to it. However, despite its claims to the contrary, pregeometry is found to surreptitiously and unavoidably fall prey to the very mode of description it endeavours to evade, as evidenced in its all-pervading geometric understanding of the world. The question r…