Joint cosmology seminar at MIT:

Tuesday, April 29, 2025, 2:30 pm
Cosman Seminar Room\\
Center for Theoretical Physics\\
Building 6C, Room 6C-442\\
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Black Holes as Probes for UV Physics

Dieter Lüst
Max-Planck-Institute for Physics and LMU-Munich

Abstract:

The existence of classical black holes is by now established by various astrophysical observations. As I will discuss black holes also serve as probes for UV physics closely connected to quantum gravity. This role of black holes actually emerges in the context of UV-IR mixing within the swampland program for quantum gravity. More specifically, black holes can probe infinite distance limits in quantum gravity moduli spaces, either related to emergent strings or to decompactification to higher dimensions. I will furthermore discuss that, from an observational point of view, higher-dimensional primordial black holes can serve as natural dark matter candidates in the so-called dark dimension scenario.