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Open research questions in Black Holes and Theoretical Physics

374 gap statements mined from Black Holes and Theoretical Physics papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 2,792 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.

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What the literature leaves open

  • The paper notes that quantifying gravitational complexity in a covariant manner is not straightforward. It identifies the need to balance the geometrical and matter parts to obtain vanishing complexity. The paper also mentions the challenge of obtaining a non-trivial class of spacetimes with vanishing complexity.

    Complexity and Structure Scalars of Generalized Vaidya Spacetime · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies the need for a covariant description of gravitational complexity. It notes that the existing geometric prescription for complexity has not been applied to Generalized Vaidya geometry before.

    Complexity and Structure Scalars of Generalized Vaidya Spacetime · 2026 · DOI

  • The authors highlight the need to characterize the properties of black strings in these environments, including their event horizon and singularity structure, thermodynamic aspects, and behavior of null geodesics.

    Charged black string immersed in a quintessence fluid and string cloud · 2026 · DOI

  • The need for a direct four-dimensional benchmark for the shear viscosity to entropy density ratio. The lack of understanding of the effect of infrared-enhanced quantum fluctuations on the stress-tensor response. The necessity to improve our understanding of near-extremal black holes and their effective theory.

    One-loop corrected holographic shear viscosity to entropy density ratio at low temperatures · 2026 · DOI

  • The gap is addressed by developing a new method to extract the strong-coupling expansion coefficient of the EEC directly from the low-energy Wilson coefficients of the Mellin amplitude.

    Energy-energy correlators at strong coupling · 2026 · DOI

  • This requirement remains insufficiently enforced in studies of the finite-magnetic Ay’on–Beato–Garc’ia realization of the Bardeen geometry, where the metric parameter, magnetic charge, and nonlinear-electrodynamic couplings become linked on the known diagonal solution family.

    Fixed-action obstruction and coordinate-dependent response poles in the diagonal ABG Bardeen family · 2026 · DOI

  • The study aims to address the lack of knowledge about the robustness of foundational principles in gravity and their implications for holographic dualities and strongly coupled field theories.

    Viscosity of $$R^2$$ modified AdS black brane · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper does not provide a general solution to the equations of motion. The analysis is limited to second order in α. The paper does not discuss the physical implications of the results.

    Stringy Corrections to Heterotic SU(3)-Geometry · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a gap in the literature regarding the geometry of heterotic compactifications on SU(3) manifolds. The paper identifies a need to extend Strominger's analysis from linear order in α to second order α 2.

    Stringy Corrections to Heterotic SU(3)-Geometry · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper suggests that future research should focus on developing a deeper understanding of the Bosonic Vacuum idea and its application to various phenomena in theoretical physics. The paper notes that further study is needed to fully understand the implications of the formulation and controlled laboratories.

    Bosonic Vacuum and the Dilaton: From Condensate Logic to Controlled Holonomy/Radion EFT and Quantum-Curve Geometry · 2026 · DOI

  • The topology of the compactified space, the role of the natural double cover, and the precise geometry of conformal infinity are not well understood. The standard realization of the compactified space is often described in a manner that obscures its true structure.

    Conformally Compactified Minkowski Space: A Re-Examination with Emphasis on the Double Cover and Conformal Infinity · 2026 · DOI

  • The formulation of higher-spin vertex operators in curved backgrounds remains an active frontier of research. The study of higher-spin string states beyond flat spacetime is an open problem.

    The spectrum-generating algebra for bosonic strings in a linear dilaton background · 2026 · DOI

  • The lack of a residue formula for the elliptic genus of 2d N = gauge theories. The need for a better understanding of the phase structure of these theories.

    Elliptic genera of 2d $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = (0, 1) gauge theories · 2026 · DOI

  • While hierarchical mergers of black holes are suggested by some observed events (GW241011, GW241110), it cannot be said with certainty that these black holes are indeed of second-generation or that hierarchical mergers definitively occur in the universe.

    Using thermodynamics to learn gravitational wave physics · 2026 · DOI

  • The effects of pure R2 term on holographic transport had remained obscured in studies of more complex combinations of curvature invariants prior to this work.

    Viscosity of $$R^2$$ modified AdS black brane · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper notes that prior work has not developed a conservative, EFT-first formulation of the Bosonic Vacuum idea.

    Bosonic Vacuum and the Dilaton: From Condensate Logic to Controlled Holonomy/Radion EFT and Quantum-Curve Geometry · 2026 · DOI

  • The formula derived in this work has not been applied to specific theories referenced in to test dualities and trialities; concrete duality/triality tests on these particular theories remain outstanding validation targets.

    Elliptic genera of 2d $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = (0, 1) gauge theories · 2026 · DOI

  • The complexity of the trace relations makes it challenging to analytically understand and systematically classify these states, - The standard supersymmetric indices vanishing due to the presence of free fermions, - The need to decouple the free T 4 sigma model to obtain meaningful indices, - The use of first-order conformal perturbation theory, - The assumption that at a generic point in the moduli space, there…

    Fortuity in the D1-D5 system · 2026 · DOI

  • Further study of the supercharge Q-cohomology to identify protected 1 4 -BPS states, - Investigation of the relation between fortuitous states and black hole microstates, - Development of new methods to analytically understand and systematically classify fortuitous…

    Fortuity in the D1-D5 system · 2026 · DOI

  • Further analysis of the event horizon solution and the structure of singularities, - Investigation of the black string's behavior for different values…

    Charged black string immersed in a quintessence fluid and string cloud · 2026 · DOI

  • Detailed analysis of the reduction of life time for low mass black holes and its implications on PBH cosmology. Further studies on the effects of ingoing classical flux or its backreaction towards the black hole dynamics.

    Black holes in thermal bath live shorter: Implications for primordial black holes · 2026 · DOI

  • The standard formulation of Hawking radiation neglects the thermalization of the emitted radiation. The paper identifies a gap in the existing literature by highlighting the importance of considering the thermal bath.

    Black holes in thermal bath live shorter: Implications for primordial black holes · 2026 · DOI

  • Further study of the Schwarzian sector and its implications for holographic theories, - Investigation of the exact two-dimensional treatments and their relation to the four-dimensional…

    One-loop corrected holographic shear viscosity to entropy density ratio at low temperatures · 2026 · DOI

  • Further study of the properties of the spectrum-generating algebra in the linear dilaton background. Investigation of the implications of the results for the study of black holes and string theory.

    The spectrum-generating algebra for bosonic strings in a linear dilaton background · 2026 · DOI

  • Further study of the AdS WGC in the presence of moduli. Investigation of the implications of the WGC bound for the spectrum of charged massive particles. Exploration of the connection between the WGC and the Swampland program.

    Expanding the weak gravity conjecture in AdS space · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Black Holes and Theoretical Physics

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Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) The lack of understanding of the effect of infrared-enhanced quantum fluctuations on the stress-tensor response (“One-loop corrected holographic shear viscosity to entropy density ratio at low…”, 2026); (2) The study aims to address the lack of knowledge about the robustness of foundational principles in gravity and their implications for holographic dualities and strongly coupled field theories (“Viscosity of $$R^2$$ modified AdS black brane”, 2026); (3) The paper suggests that future research should focus on developing a deeper understanding of the Bosonic Vacuum idea and its application to various phenomena in theoretical physics (“Bosonic Vacuum and the Dilaton: From Condensate Logic to Controlled…”, 2026); (4) The topology of the compactified space, the role of the natural double cover, and the precise geometry of conformal infinity are not well understood (“Conformally Compactified Minkowski Space: A Re-Examination with Emphasis on the…”, 2026); (5) The lack of a residue formula for the elliptic genus of 2d N = gauge theories (“Elliptic genera of 2d $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = (0, 1) gauge theories”, 2026). 374 gap statements have been mined from Black Holes and Theoretical Physics papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 2,792 papers on the topic; the gaps come from whichever of those papers state one. They are mostly the research gaps the authors state and the papers' abstracts, plus future-work, limitations and challenges passages. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one, so you can read the original claim in context.

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