The Holographic Principle in String Theory

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We found a very complicated construction within string theory of special kinds of stringy black holes that do have a venturizance. And they are subject to the Beckenstein-Halkig analysis which says that their gigabyte capacity should be proportional to their area. Vafa and I actually constructed the hologram in complete detail. It was completely correct and we hit the answer on the nose, but it was very complicated. But it was an existence proof that you of the holographic principle. This has been a great source of kind of inspiration of how quantum systems might be related to one another.

Quantum gravity research is inspired by experiment — all of the experimental data that supports quantum mechanics, and supports general relativity — but it’s only inspiration, not detailed guidance. So it’s easy to “do research on quantum gravity” and get lost in a world of toy models and mathematical abstraction. Today’s guest, Andrew Strominger, is a leading researcher in string theory and quantum gravity, and one who has always kept his eyes on the prize: connecting to the real world. We talk about the development of string theory, the puzzle of a positive cosmological constant, and how black holes and string theory can teach us about each other.

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Andrew Strominger received his Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is currently the Gwill E. York Professor of Physics at Harvard University. Among his awards are the Dirac Medal, the Klein Medal, the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, and a Guggenheim Fellowship.

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