Hidden Conformal Symmetry of the Kerr Black Hole

Understand

Extreme and very-near-extreme spin J Kerr black holes have been conjectured to be holographically dual to two-dimensional (2D) conformal field theories (CFTs) with left and right central charges c_L=c_R=12J.

• In this paper it is observed that the 2D conformal symmetry of the scalar wave equation at low frequencies persists for generic non-extreme values of the mass M.
• Interestingly, this conformal symmetry is not derived from a conformal symmetry of the spacetime geometry except in the extreme limit.
• The periodic identification of the azimuthal angle is shown to correspond to a spontaneous breaking of the conformal symmetry by left and right temperatures (T_L,T_R).