Instruct: Identify the main and secondary category of Arxiv papers based on the titles and abstracts
Query: Black Holes as Quantum Membranes   We propose a quantum description of black holes. The degrees of freedom to be
quantized are identified with the microscopic degrees of freedom of the
horizon, and their dynamics is governed by the action of the relatistic bosonic
membrane in $D=4$. We find that a consistent and plausible description emerges,
both at the classical and at the quantum level. We present results for the
level structure of black holes. We find a ``principal series'' of levels,
corresponding to quantization of the area of the horizon. From each level of
this principal series starts a quasi-continuum of levels due to excitations of
the membrane. We discuss the statistical origin of the black hole entropy and
the relation with Hawking radiation and with the information loss problem. The
limits of validity of the membrane approach turn out to coincide with the known
limits of validity of the thermodynamical description of black holes.

28
The categories of this paper are: alg-geom
17
The categories of this paper are: q-fin
27
The categories of this paper are: comp-gas
11
The categories of this paper are: hep-lat
15
The categories of this paper are: nucl-ex
1
The categories of this paper are: cs
31
The categories of this paper are: ao-sci
23
The categories of this paper are: solv-int
25
The categories of this paper are: patt-sol
20
The categories of this paper are: acc-phys
37
The categories of this paper are: supr-con
3
The categories of this paper are: physics
2
The categories of this paper are: math
9
The categories of this paper are: nlin
12
The categories of this paper are: nucl-th
8
The categories of this paper are: hep-ex