On the Intrinsic Parity of Black Holes

Abstract

We investigate the intrinsic parity of black holes. It appears that discrete symmetries require the black hole Hilbert space to be larger than suggested by the usual quantum numbers M (mass), Q (charge) and J (angular momentum). Recent results on black hole production in trans-Planckian scattering lead to gravitational effects which do not decouple from low-energy physics. Dispersion relations incorporating these effects imply that the semi-classical black hole spectrum is similar in parity even and odd channels. This result can be generalized to other discrete and continuous symmetries.