Area Law and accuracy of momentum measurement at plank energies

In summary, the conversation discusses the question of how many bits of information can be inferred about the horizon by placing measuring apparatus in a small region of size D. It is suggested that the standard theory of angular resolution may change when approaching wavelengths near the Planck length, and that the holographic principle implies that the accuracy of momentum measurement at these energies should be h/lp. It is also mentioned that the number of bits may increase as volume according to naive analysis, but the holographic principle suggests it should increase as area. Further research and discussion is needed to fully understand this topic.
  • #1
Prathyush
212
16
The general question that I am interested in, is to obtain the number of bits of information one can infer about the horizon by placing measuing apparatus only in a Region of size D.

I Imagine a telescore of diameter D that(or devices of that general nature)
The standard Theory says that*
angular resolutiom θ ~ λ/D
The larger the momentum the more accurate our resolution is.

How does this result change when we approach wavelength near plank length. The quantum mechanics seems to imply that resolution is infinite.
However we expect effects of quantum gravity to step in and limits the information that we can obtain about the horizon.

The number of angular bits at a given momentum is 4pi/θ^2 ~(d^2/λ^2)
(total solid angle/resolution)

The momentum is resolved upto ~h/D
(I am not entirely sure about correctness of this, but i expect some such relation to be true)

then,
The number of bits when when momentum P is measured is 4 pi/θ^2 ~ (d^2/λ^2)

To obtain the total number of bits we must integrate over all λ(d to plank length lp) and divide by resolution of mementum measurement.
no of bits = (D^2/lp^3) / (h/D) ~ D^3/lp^3

Our naive analysis implies that number of bits about the horizon scale as volume.

However, holographic principle says that number of bits must increase as Area
To recover the holographic principle we must posulate that the accuracy of momentum measurement at wavelenghts near plank scale is not h/D but h/lp

And We can recover the area Law for entropy.
D^2/lp^3 / (h/lp) = D^2/lp^2

It appears that the area law implies that, accuracy of momentum measurement near plank energies must be h/lp. Independent of the detection scheme involved.

I am not sure about about the validity of my assumptions and hence conclusions, but the Question of how many bits can one infer about the Horizon by making measurements in a small region of size D is of interest to me. Any comments or further reading will be much appriciated.
 
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  • #2
If you want to measure areas down to the Planck area, I would expect that the momentum resolution there does not depend on the total size of the object, but on the size of the observed region (which indirectly scales with the observation wavelength). This removes the main contribution from the size of the object. It then just gives a lower limit for relevant frequencies, and even that might be just redundancy (as you scan the area with better resolution anyway). And without doing the math, I would expect a logarithmic dependence in this case.
 

Related to Area Law and accuracy of momentum measurement at plank energies

1. What is the relationship between Area Law and accuracy of momentum measurement at plank energies?

The Area Law states that the entropy of a black hole is proportional to the area of its event horizon, rather than its volume. This means that as the black hole's surface area increases, so does its entropy. This has implications for the accuracy of measuring momentum at plank energies, as it suggests that there may be a fundamental limit to the precision of such measurements.

2. How does the Area Law affect our understanding of black holes?

The Area Law has greatly influenced our understanding of black holes, as it provides a link between their thermodynamic properties and their gravitational effects. It also has implications for information theory and the holographic principle, which suggest that all the information contained within a black hole can be represented on its surface.

3. What are plank energies and why are they important in this context?

Plank energies refer to the energy scale at which quantum gravity effects become significant. This is the scale at which the Planck length and Planck time, which are the fundamental units of length and time in the universe, come into play. At this energy scale, the laws of physics as we know them break down, and it becomes necessary to consider a theory of quantum gravity to accurately describe the behavior of particles.

4. How does the Area Law impact our ability to measure momentum accurately?

The Area Law suggests that there may be a fundamental limit to the precision of momentum measurements at plank energies. This is because the uncertainty principle, which states that the more precisely one property of a particle is known, the less precisely another property can be known, is based on the concept of position and momentum. However, at plank energies, the concept of position loses its meaning, making it difficult to accurately measure momentum.

5. What are the implications of the Area Law for future research in this field?

The Area Law has significant implications for future research in the field of black holes and quantum gravity. It has opened up new avenues for understanding the fundamental nature of space and time, and has also provided insights into the connection between thermodynamics and gravity. Further research in this area may help us to better understand the behavior of particles at plank energies and ultimately lead to a more complete theory of quantum gravity.

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