Notes on black-hole evaporation

Abstract

This paper examines various aspects of black-hole evaporation. A two-dimensional model is investigated where it is shown that using fermion-boson cancellation on the stress-energy tensor reduces the energy outflow to zero, while other noncovariant techniques give the Hawking result. A technique for replacing the collapse by boundary conditions on the past horizon is developed which retains the essential features of the collapse while eliminating some of the difficulties. This set of boundary conditions is also suggested as the most natural set for a preexistent black hole. The behavior of particle detectors under acceleration is investigated where it is shown that an accelerated detector even in flat spacetime will detect particles in the vacuum. The similarity of this case with the behavior of a detector near the black hole is brought out, and it is shown that a geodesic detector near the horizon will not see the Hawking flux of particles. Finally, the work of Berger, Chitre, Nutku, and Moncrief on scalar geons is corrected, and the spherically symmetric coupled scalar-gravitation Hamiltonian is presented in the hope that someone can apply it to the problem of black-hole evaporation.