Gravitational Vacuum Condensate Stars in the Effective Theory of Gravity
The low energy effective theory of gravity consists of classical general relativity with two additions of quantum theory. The first is the quantum conformal anomaly, which is responsible for macroscopic correlations on light cones and a stress tensor that can strongly modify the classical geometry at black hole horizons. The second is the formulation of vacuum energy in terms of an exact 4-form abelian gauge field strength F=dA, with A the Chern-Simons 3-form of the Euler class. Thereby a J dot A interaction is generated by the conformal anomaly of massless fermions for the 'Maxwell' eq. obeyed by F. Due to the extreme blueshifting of local frequencies in the near-horizon region of a `black hole,' the lightest fermions of the Standard Model can be treated as massless there, contributing to the anomaly and providing a 3-current source J
at the would-be BH horizon where F and hence vacuum energy can change rapidly.
The Schwarzschild BH horizon is thereby replaced by a surface, with a positive surface tension and R x S2 worldtube topology, separating regions of differing vacuum energy. The mean field solution of the EFT eqs. of the boundary layer will be discussed. The result is a gravitational vacuum condensate star, a cold, compact, horizonless object with a p= - rho zero entropy, non-singular de Sitter interior and thin quantum phase boundary layer at the Schwarzschild radius 2GM/c^2, instead of a black hole.
Reference:
https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.02519 (to appear in Phys. Rev. D in April)