arXiv subjects

Achilleas P. Porfyriadis

Publications and source records attributed to Achilleas P. Porfyriadis.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Approaching a dynamical extreme black hole horizon

We give an explicit closed form description of the late-time near-horizon approach to dynamical extreme Reissner-Nordstrom (DERN) black holes. These are spherically symmetric dynamical solutions of Einstein-Maxwell theory coupled to a neutral scalar that feature: (i) a spacetime metric which tends to that of a static extreme Reissner-Nordstrom (RN), and (ii) a scalar field which exhibits the linear Aretakis instability ad infinitum in the non-linear theory. We employ the two-dimensional Jackiw-Teitelboim (JT) gravity to solve explicitly for the non-linear s-wave dynamics of the four-dimensional theory near an ${\rm AdS}_2\times {\rm S}^2$ throat. For a teleologically defined black hole horizon, we impose boundary conditions on JT's dilaton field (which encodes the gravitational dynamics) and the scalar matter as follows: (i) the JT dilaton decays at late times on the ${\rm AdS}_2$ boundary to a value that corresponds to a static extreme RN in the exterior, and (ii) the scalar obeys boundary conditions characteristic of linear Aretakis behavior on ${\rm AdS}_2$. We ensure our DERN solutions are singularity-free and we note that our approach to DERN is accompanied by a final burst of outgoing scalar matter flux leaking out of the ${\rm AdS}_2$ throat. The boundary conditions we impose on the JT dilaton place its late-time boundary profile on the threshold of black hole formation with sub-extreme and super-extreme RN on either side of our DERNs.

hep-th↗

arXiv2026

Holographic shear correlators at low temperatures, and quantum $η/s$

The strongly-coupled 3-dimensional theory, holographically dual to black branes at fixed chemical potential $\muext$ and temperature $T \ll μ$ is considered in AdS$_4$ Einstein-Maxwell theory. The retarded Green's functions at frequency $ω$ is calculated using holography in the regime $ω, T \ll \muext$ but otherwise arbitrary. When the transverse space has finite volume, there is a non-zero energy scale $E_\text{gap}$, scaling as $1/μ$ for large $μ$, below which quantum-gravitational corrections due to the fluctuations of the nearly-gapless Schwarzian modes become important. Such corrections to the retarded Green's function are calculated at different relative values of $ω$, $T$, and $E_\text{gap}$. The $ω\to 0$ limit is used to define the shear viscosity $η$. As the temperature is lowered below $μ$, quantum corrections are found to increase the value of $η$ with respect to its semiclassical value.The quantum-corrected result for $η$ diverges as $\sqrt{E_\text{gap}/T}$ at $T \ll E_\text{gap}$, in accord with corresponding results for the absorption cross section. The quantum result for the ratio $η/s$, where $s$ is the entropy density, dips below the semiclassical limit of $1/4π$ when $E_\text{gap} \ll T \ll μ$,then turns back to increase towards lower temperatures, and finally diverges at temperatures much below $E_\text{gap}$.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Scalar field scattering in a Schwarzschild-de Sitter geometry

We solve analytically the low-frequency s-wave dynamics of a massless scalar field propagating on a Schwarzschild-de Sitter black hole background. A rigorous application of the method of matched asymptotic expansions allows us to connect the scalar's evolution in the proximity of the black-hole horizon with that on cosmological scales. The scattering coefficients, greybody factors, and Wigner time delay are computed explicitly. We consider both small and large black holes, with black-hole to cosmological horizon radii parametrically small and of order unity, respectively. This extends previous studies confined to the small black-hole regime only. In addition, for small black holes we perform a calculation that remains agnostic about the relative size between the ratio of the geometry's horizons and the scalar's frequency in units of the black-hole radius. When the two are comparable, we find that they are interchangeable in the greybody factor, which is symmetric under $ω\leftrightarrow 1/r_c$ (where $ω$ is the scalar's frequency and $r_c$ the cosmological horizon radius).

gr-qc↗

arXiv2025

Accidental Symmetry Near Extreme Spinning Black Holes

Near the horizon of extremal charged black holes, an accidental symmetry is known to act on zero-temperature perturbations, transforming them into finite-temperature ones. In this paper, we uncover the corresponding accidental symmetry of the vacuum Einstein equation near the horizon of extremal spinning black holes. To do so, we first devise a new method of deriving the symmetry near the ${\rm AdS}_2 \times S^2$ near-horizon geometry of extreme Reissner-Nordström, using a new scaling coordinate transformation that unifies the near-horizon limits of extremal and near-extremal black holes in a way that is regular at zero temperature. We use our new method to obtain the accidental symmetry in the near-horizon of extreme Kerr (NHEK). We show that accidental symmetries combine neatly with the near-horizon isometries inside a Virasoro algebra.

hep-th↗

arXiv2024

Connecting Gravitational Perturbations: from Bertotti-Robinson to Extreme Reissner-Nordstrom

We study spherically symmetric spacetime perturbations induced by a neutral scalar in the near-horizon region of extreme Reissner-Nordstrom black holes. For the unperturbed black hole, the near-horizon region is given by another exact solution of the Einstein-Maxwell equations, namely the Bertotti-Robinson spacetime. Our aim is to extend this connection beyond the background level and identify perturbations of a Bertotti-Robinson spacetime as near-horizon perturbations of an extreme Reissner-Nordstrom black hole. We explain that explicit identification of the perturbative solutions to the two different backgrounds can only work in appropriate gauges. For this reason, we first solve the two perturbation problems in the most general spherically symmetric gauges and then find the necessary gauge conditions for matching the Reissner-Nordstrom and Bertotti-Robinson perturbative solutions in the near-horizon limit.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2023

Charged Dilatonic Spacetimes in String Theory

We construct and study general static, spherically symmetric, magnetically charged solutions in Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton gravity in four dimensions. That is, taking Einstein gravity coupled to a ${\rm U}(1)$ gauge field and a massless dilaton$\unicode{x2014}$e.g., the action in the low-energy limit of string theory or Kaluza-Klein reduction$\unicode{x2014}$with arbitrary dilaton coupling, we build a three-parameter family of objects characterized by their mass, charge, and dilaton flux, generalizing the well known Garfinkle-Horowitz-Strominger black hole. We analyze the near-extremal and near-horizon behavior in detail, finding new warped geometries. In a particular limit, where the geometry reduces to the recently discovered customizable ${\rm AdS}_2 \times S^2$ of Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton gravity, we compute the static s-wave linearized solutions and characterize the anabasis relating the horizon perturbations to their nonlinear completions within our generalized family of spacetimes.

hep-th↗

arXiv2022

Large Diffeomorphisms and Accidental Symmetry of the Extremal Horizon

We uncover a symmetry of the linear Einstein equations near extremal horizons. Specifically, acting with a spherically symmetric linearized diffeomorphism on the perturbative solutions to the Einstein-Maxwell equations in the Bertotti-Robinson background, but not acting on the background itself, we find that there is a subset of such transformations under which the equations of motion remain satisfied, with or without additional matter. This represents an "accidental" symmetry in the sense that the set of transformations realizing the mapping among solutions is strictly larger than the ${\rm SL}(2)$ isometries of the background spacetime. We argue that our accidental symmetry can be thought of as an on-shell large diffeomorphism of ${\rm AdS}_2$, which we support in the context of Jackiw-Teitelboim theory.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

Horizon Acoustics of the GHS Black Hole and the Spectrum of ${\rm AdS}_2$

We uncover a novel structure in Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton gravity: an ${\rm AdS}_2 \times S^2$ solution in string frame, which can be obtained by a near-horizon limit of the extreme GHS black hole with dilaton coupling $λ\neq 1$. Unlike the Bertotti-Robinson spacetime, our solution has independent length scales for the ${\rm AdS}_2$ and $S^2$, with ratio controlled by $λ$. We solve the perturbation problem for this solution, finding the independently propagating towers of states in terms of superpositions of gravitons, photons, and dilatons and their associated effective potentials. These potentials describe modes obeying conformal quantum mechanics, with couplings that we compute, and can be recast as giving the spectrum of the effective masses of the modes. By dictating the conformal weights of boundary operators, this spectrum provides crucial data for any future construction of a holographic dual to these ${\rm AdS}_2\times S^2$ configurations.

hep-th↗

arXiv2021

Extreme Black Hole Anabasis

We study the $\mathsf{SL}(2)$ transformation properties of spherically symmetric perturbations of the Bertotti-Robinson universe and identify an invariant $μ$ that characterizes the backreaction of these linear solutions. The only backreaction allowed by Birkhoff's theorem is one that destroys the $AdS_2\times S^2$ boundary and builds the exterior of an asymptotically flat Reissner-Nordström black hole with $Q=M\sqrt{1-μ/4}$. We call such backreaction with boundary condition change an anabasis. We show that the addition of linear anabasis perturbations to Bertotti-Robinson may be thought of as a boundary condition that defines a connected $AdS_2\times S^2$. The connected $AdS_2$ is a nearly-$AdS_2$ with its $\mathsf{SL}(2)$ broken appropriately for it to maintain connection to the asymptotically flat region of Reissner-Nordström. We perform a backreaction calculation with matter in the connected $AdS_2\times S^2$ and show that it correctly captures the dynamics of the asymptotically flat black hole.

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Near-$AdS_2$ perturbations and the connection with near-extreme Reissner-Nordstrom

The geometry very near the horizon of a near-extreme Reissner-Nordstrom black hole is described by the direct product of a near-$AdS_2$ spacetime with a two-sphere. While near-$AdS_2$ is locally diffeomorphic to $AdS_2$ the two connect differently with the asymptotically flat part of the geometry of (near-)extreme Reissner-Nordstrom. In previous work, we solved analytically the coupled gravitational and electromagnetic perturbation equations of $AdS_2\times S^2$ and the associated connection problem with extreme Reissner-Nordstrom. In this paper, we give the solution for perturbations of near-$AdS_2\times S^2$ and make the connection with near-extreme Reissner-Nordstrom. Our results here may also be thought of as computing the classical scattering matrix for gravitational and electromagnetic waves which probe the region very near the horizon of a highly charged spherically symmetric black hole.

hep-th↗

arXiv2018

Scattering of gravitational and electromagnetic waves off $AdS_2\times S^2$ in extreme Reissner-Nordstrom

The direct product of two-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime with a two-sphere is an exact solution of four-dimensional Einstein-Maxwell theory without a cosmological constant. In this paper, we analytically solve the coupled gravitational and electromagnetic perturbation equations of $AdS_2\times S^2$ in Einstein-Maxwell theory. On the other hand, $AdS_2\times S^2$ also describes the near-horizon region of the extreme Reissner-Nordstrom (ERN) black hole. We therefore also solve the connection problem: we show how the $AdS_2\times S^2$ perturbation equations arise from an appropriate near-horizon approximation of the corresponding equations for the ERN and then, using matched asymptotic expansions, we analytically extend the $AdS_2\times S^2$ solutions away from the near-horizon region connecting them with solutions in the far asymptotically flat region. From the point of view of ERN our results may be thought of as computing the classical scattering matrix for gravitational and electromagnetic waves which probe the near-horizon region of the black hole.

hep-th↗

arXiv2018

Critical Emission from a High-Spin Black Hole

We consider a rapidly spinning black hole surrounded by an equatorial, geometrically thin, slowly accreting disk that is stationary and axisymmetric. We analytically compute the broadening of electromagnetic line emissions from the innermost part of the disk, which resides in the near-horizon region. The result is independent of the disk's surface emissivity and therefore universal. This is an example of critical behavior in astronomy that is potentially observable by current or future telescopes.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

Logarithmic corrections to black hole entropy from Kerr/CFT

It has been shown by A. Sen that logarithmic corrections to the black hole area-entropy law are entirely determined macroscopically from the massless particle spectrum. They therefore serve as powerful consistency checks on any proposed enumeration of quantum black hole microstates. Sen's results include a macroscopic computation of the logarithmic corrections for a five-dimensional near extremal Kerr-Newman black hole. Here we compute these corrections microscopically using a stringy embedding of the Kerr/CFT correspondence and find perfect agreement.

hep-th↗

arXiv2016

Whirling orbits around twirling black holes from conformal symmetry

Dynamics in the throat of rapidly rotating Kerr black holes is governed by an emergent near-horizon conformal symmetry. The throat contains unstable circular orbits at radii extending from the ISCO down to the light ring. We show that they are related by conformal transformations to physical plunges and osculating trajectories. These orbits have angular momentum arbitrarily higher than that of ISCO. Using the conformal symmetry we compute analytically the radiation produced by the physical orbits. We also present a simple formula for the full self-force on such trajectories in terms of the self-force on circular orbits.

hep-th↗

arXiv2016

Photon Emission Near Extreme Kerr Black Holes

Ongoing astronomical efforts extract physical properties of black holes from electromagnetic emissions in their near-vicinity. This requires finding the null geodesics which extend from the near-horizon region out to a distant observatory. In general these can only be found numerically. In this paper, for the interesting special case of extremally spinning Kerr black holes, we use an emergent near-horizon conformal symmetry to find near-superradiant geodesics analytically.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

New Symmetries of Massless QED

An infinite number of physically nontrivial symmetries are found for abelian gauge theories with massless charged particles. They are generated by large $U(1)$ gauge transformations that asymptotically approach an arbitrary function $\varepsilon(z,\bar{z})$ on the conformal sphere at future null infinity ($\mathscr I^+$) but are independent of the retarded time. The value of $\varepsilon$ at past null infinity ($\mathscr I^-$) is determined from that on $\mathscr I^+$ by the condition that it take the same value at either end of any light ray crossing Minkowski space. The $\varepsilon\neq$ constant symmetries are spontaneously broken in the usual vacuum. The associated Goldstone modes are zero-momentum photons and comprise a $U(1)$ boson living on the conformal sphere. The Ward identity associated with this asymptotic symmetry is shown to be the abelian soft photon theorem.

hep-th↗

arXiv2015

Particle on the Innermost Stable Circular Orbit of a Rapidly Spinning Black Hole

We compute the radiation emitted by a particle on the innermost stable circular orbit of a rapidly spinning black hole both (a) analytically, working to leading order in the deviation from extremality and (b) numerically, with a new high-precision Teukolsky code. We find excellent agreement between the two methods. We confirm previous estimates of the overall scaling of the power radiated, but show that there are also small oscillations all the way to extremality. Furthermore, we reveal an intricate mode-by-mode structure in the flux to infinity, with only certain modes having the dominant scaling. The scaling of each mode is controlled by its conformal weight, a quantity that arises naturally in the representation theory of the enhanced near-horizon symmetry group. We find relationships to previous work on particles orbiting in precisely extreme Kerr, including detailed agreement of quantities computed here with conformal field theory calculations performed in the context of the Kerr/CFT correspondence.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2015

Gravity Waves from Kerr/CFT

Dynamics at large redshift near the horizon of an extreme Kerr black hole are governed by an infinite-dimensional conformal symmetry. This symmetry may be exploited to analytically, rather than numerically, compute a variety of potentially observable processes. In this paper we compute and study the conformal transformation properties of the gravitational radiation emitted by an orbiting mass in the large-redshift near-horizon region.

hep-th↗