The zero-point fluctuations of quantum fields react to the presence of gravity through the phenomena of quantum vacuum polarization and particle creation. Despite the far-reaching implications of semiclassical effects in black holes and cosmology, we still have an incomplete understanding of their ultimate consequences for gravitational collapse and hydrostatic equilibrium. In this talk, I will illustrate the ways in which the quantum vacuum may change the standard black hole paradigm. Firstly, I will analyze the properties of the Boulware vacuum through the numerical calculation of renormalized stress-energy tensors in spacetimes describing thin shells in equilibrium with an empty (Minkowski) interior. Secondly, I will show (through an s-wave approximation) how the In vacuum behaves in Vaidya-like spacetimes describing the formation and evaporation of regular black holes.
Gonzalo J. Olmo