Workshop

13 Apr, 2026 - 15 May, 2026

Pathways to Quantum Black Holes: from Effective Theories to Exact Methods

Abstract

Quantum Black Holes are characterized by their extreme gravitational fields, requiring both General Relativity and the principles of Quantum Mechanics for a proper description. As such, they serve as ideal "theoretical laboratories" for testing candidate theories of quantum gravity. In the past few years, the field has seen remarkable progress, including the derivation of the Page curve for unitary black hole evolution; exact calculations of supersymmetric quantum black hole entropy; the discovery of amplified quantum effects in near-extremal black holes; and a new understanding of spacetime wormholes as encoding the statistical properties of black hole observables.
These breakthroughs have sparked tremendous excitement, providing fresh insights into the elusive theory of quantum gravity. The goal of this GGI workshop is to bring together leading experts from different subfields to critically assess these advances, develop a coherent picture of the current status, and explore new directions for future research.

The workshop will focus on three key themes:
1. The gravitational path integral — The role of contributing geometries, quantum effects in near-extremal black holes, wormholes, and statistical properties.
2. Microscopic constructions — Black hole microstate counting in gravity and in the dual CFT, and the nature of black hole microstates at finite N.
3. Dynamical questions — Lorentzian interpretations, real-time dynamics, and instabilities.

The GGI provides an ideal environment for in-depth interaction, fostering new collaborations and cross-disciplinary learning. A particular goal of the workshop is to attract and support outstanding junior scientists in this rapidly evolving field. To this end, the workshop will start with a week-long introductory school, and will end with a one-week conference. Junior researchers will be given priority in presenting their work through informal talks throughout the program.

Topics


1. Gravitational path integral as a sum over geometries

• What geometries should contribute, and what is their contribution?
• Spacetime wormhole contributions and statistics of observables in gravity.
• Quantum effects in near-extremal black holes.
• Exact results for quasinormal modes and one-loop determinants.

2. Microscopic constructions

• Microstate counting for supersymmetric black holes.
• New insights on black holes from dual CFTs.
• String condensates.

3. Dynamical questions

• From Euclidean to Lorentzian dynamics: seeing the black hole interior.
• Gravitational instabilities: interplay with microscopics.

Organizers

Nikolay Bobev (KU Leuven)
Davide Cassani (INFN Padova)
Alejandra Castro (DAMTP Cambridge)
Roberto Emparan (ICREA and University of Barcelona)
Luca Iliesiu (UC Berkeley)
Sameer Murthy (King’s College London)
Ashoke Sen (ICTS Bangalore)

Local organizers

Contact

davide.cassani@pd.infn.it

Website:

Poster session

The participants who would like to present a poster are kindly invited to send an email with the title and a short abstract to alice.bernamonti@unifuit before May 22, specifying for which week of the workshop. Since a limited number of panels is available, the organizers will select the posters shortly after the deadline.

week 3

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
11:30 - 12:30 Tomasevic Newenfeld Collin-Ellerin Caceres
13:00 - 14:30 lunch lunch lunch lunch lunch
14:30 - 15:30 Sorce Emparan
  • Elena Caceres: 'On Sparse SYK, wormholes, and chaos"
  • Sean Colin-Ellerin: "Bootstrapping wuantum extremal surfaces
  • Roberto Emparan: "Black tsunamis and naked singularities in AdS'
  • Dominik Neuenfeld: "Bounds on gravitational brane couplings and tomography in AdS3 black hole microstates"
  • Jonathan Sorce: "Bulk causality from boundary entanglement: the connected wedge theorem revisited"
  • Marija Tomasevic: 'ds through holography

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Talks
Date Speaker Title Type Useful Links
27 Apr, 2026 - 11:30-12:30 Ohad Mamroud Chaos and the Berry curvature of BPS microstates Seminar
28 Apr, 2026 - 11:30-12:30 David Grabovsky A Lorentzian Gravitational Path Integral in de Sitter Seminar
29 Apr, 2026 - 11:30-12:30 Atish Dabholkar Edge Modes on String Horizons Seminar
30 Apr, 2026 - 11:30-12:30 Gabriele Di Ubaldo Positivity constraints for the gravitational path integral Seminar
04 May, 2026 - 11:30-12:30 Suzanne Bintanja Pseudorandomness in large-N CFTs Seminar
05 May, 2026 - 11:30-12:30 Martin Sasieta Emergence of Closed Universes in SYK Seminar
06 May, 2026 - 11:30-12:30 Yolanda Lozano On holographic defect CFTs Seminar
07 May, 2026 - 11:30-12:30 Nejc Ceplak Holographic Probes of Black Hole Singularities Seminar
08 May, 2026 - 11:30-12:30 Finn Larsen Phases of AdS supergravity Seminar
Materials