What Can We Learn from Stringy Black Holes

This paper aims to address conceptual issues concerning black holes in the context of string theory, with the aim of illuminating the ontological unification of gravity and matter, and the interpretation of cosmological models. §1 describes the central concepts of the theory: the fungibility of matter and geometry, and the reduction of gravity and supergravity. The ‘standard’ interpretation presented draws on that implicit in the thinking of many (but not all) string theorists, though made more explicit and systematic than usual. §2 explains how to construct a stringy black hole, and some of its features, including evaporation. §3 critically examines the assumptions behind such modeling, and their bearing on ontological questions.