Spectroscopy of a canonically quantized horizon

Abstract: Deviations from Hawking's thermal black hole spectrum, observable for macroscopic black holes, are derived from a model of a quantum horizon in loop quantum gravity. These arise from additional area eigenstates present in quantum surfaces excluded by the classical isolated horizon boundary conditions. The complete spectrum of area unexpectedly exhibits evenly spaced symmetry. This leads to an enhancement of some spectral lines on top of the thermal spectrum. This can imprint characteristic features into the spectra of black hole systems. It most notably gives the signature of quantum gravity observability in radiation from primordial black holes, and makes it possible to test loop quantum gravity with black holes well above Planck scale.