Benedict de Spinoza (1632 - 1677) was a Dutch religious
philosopher of Portuguese Jewish descent, who expressed, for his time,
enlightened views about the physical nature of the world he lived in. In
his name, Gerard 't Hooft
received a grant to be used for research projects. One of these will be the
The Meeting is intended to give the participants optimum opportunity to exchange their ideas about the internal quantum states in a black hole. Their research should not be held up by the need to write contributions to proceedings, and we hope that the most provocative ideas are launched, shot down, and then replaced by others. To underline the informal nature of this Meeting, the lecturers will be strongly encouraged to use the blackboard rather than viewgraphs. Special discussion sessions are planned.
Some details concerning the programme may be changed later. Click this page after a few weeks to check for further information.
The selection procedure, originally planned to be very rigid, has been eased a bit because a larger lecture hall could be reserved.
Registration fee: Hfl 200. This includes lunch, coffee/tea and Conference Dinner, all of which are also subsidised by the Spinoza grant.
Applications can be sent to the secretariat listed below,
as soon as possible.
It is advisable to include a CV and a short publication list.
After selection, a registration form will be mailed to the applicant. In view of limited
hotel space, it is urgently advised to register as soon as possible.
Date: June 29 (Arrival, welcome, registration) - July 4 (departure), 1998
Location: The Minnaert Building, Leuvenlaan 4, De Uithof, Utrecht, The
Netherlands.
The lectures will be held in het Gebouw voor Aardwetenschappen, Budapestlaan 4, De Uithof,
which is connected to the Minnaert building by an overpass.
On Saturday, July 4, public lecture will be given by Prof. Stephen Hawking. This lecture is not intended for the participants of the Spinoza Meeting, but for students and the general public of interested non-experts. For further information and reservations send an e-mail to hzu@fbu.ruu.nl
The Organising Committee:
Gerard 't Hooft Erik P. Verlinde
| June 29 |
15:00 - 19:00 | Arrival, Registration, Welcome |
|---|---|---|
| June 30 |
8:45 | Coffee |
| 8:55 | Opening G. 't Hooft discussion | |
| 10:00 | S. Das discussion | |
| 11:00 | Break | |
| 11:30 - 12:30 | S. Carlip discussion | |
| 12:45 | lunch | |
| 14:15 | V. Frolov discussion | |
| 15:15 | T. Jacobson discussion | |
| 16:15 | Coffee, tea | |
| 16:45 - 17:45 | R. Sorkin discussion | |
| 18:15 | reception | |
| July 1 | 8:45 | Coffee |
| 9:00 | G. Gibbons discussion | |
| 10:00 | F. Larsen discussion | |
| 11:00 | Break | |
| 11:30 -12:30 | S. Hawking discussion | |
| 12:45 | lunch | |
| 14:15 | S. Mukhanov discussion | |
| 15:15 | J. Bekenstein discussion | |
| 16:15 | Coffee, tea | |
| 16:45 - 17:45 | general discussion | |
| July 2 |
8:45 | Coffee | 9:00 | T. Banks
discussion |
| 10:00 | B. Whiting discussion | |
| 11:00 | Break | |
| 11:30 - 12:30 | G. Horowitz discussion | |
| 12:45 | lunch | |
| 14:15 | J. Maldacena discussion | |
| 15:15 | S. Mathur discussion | |
| 16:15 | Coffee, tea | |
| 16:45 - 17:45 | general discussion | |
| 18:30 | Conference Dinner | |
| July 3 |
8:45 | Coffee | 9:00 | A. Strominger discussion |
| 10:00 | K. Skenderis discussion | |
| 11:00 | Break | |
| 11:30 - 12:30 | H. Kastrup discussion | |
| 12:45 | lunch | |
| 14:15 | F. Englert discussion | |
| 15:15 | D. Coyne | |
| 16:15 | Coffee, tea | |
| 16:45-17:45 | E. Verlinde, general discussion Closing | |
July 4 |
Departures | |
The lectures will be 44 minutes each, followed by 16 minutes discussion and 15 minutes coffee break.
| | Black Hole Horizon Area Quantization |
|---|---|
| | (2+1)-Dimensional Black Hole Entropy Revisited |
| | An other Step in the Search for Small Black Holes |
| | Schwarzschild Black Holes in M-theory |
| | Statistical Entropy of the Schwarzschild Black Hole |
| | Plenty of Nothing: Black Hole Entropy in Induced Gravity |
| | Superconductintg Black Holes? |
| | Trans-Planckian Particles and Time Quantization |
| | Gravitational entropy and Global Structure |
| | Using Gauge Theories to study Quantum Black Holes |
| | Trans-Planckian Black Hole Models: Lattice and Superfluid |
| | Quantum Statistics of Schwarzschild Black Holes,
Droplet Nucleation and DLCQ Matrix Theory |
| | The Spectrum of Four-Dimensional Black Holes in String Theory |
| | The large N limit of field theories and gravity |
| | On the Origin of Black Hole Entropy |
| | Can a Quantum Event Induce Large Fluctuations in the Horizon Area? |
| | The Black Hole Horizon |
| | Investigating Singularity Avoidance during Gravitational Collapse |
Abstracts (so-far)
We ask the other speakers to submit the titles of their lectures, so that these can be
displayed on this page. Abstracts are also welcome,
but because of the informal nature of our meeting, we leave this as optional.
Information about participating at this meeting, and hotel reservations, can be obtained from: Secretary: Mrs. L.J.M. Silkens. Postal address: Institute for Theoretical Physics, Princetonplein 5 NL 3584 CC Utrecht The Netherlands(The postal address given previously may also be used, but we discovered that mail directed to that address takes more time to arrive)
MAPS of the
town of Utrecht and of the
university area De Uithof can be clicked here.
Note that this map does
not yet show the Minnaert building, which is located just south of
the physics building ("Natuur- en Sterrenkunde"), connected to the latter by an
overpass. It is also connected to the building "Aardwetenschappen", where the
lecture hall is located.
Date last revised: July 2, 1998. Number of visitors as of 22/9/97: