Black Hole Thermalization from Microstate Spectral Statistics

The detection of gravitational waves has opened up new observational windows into the physics of black holes and has the potential to shed light on how imposing unitary evolution modifies the near horizon dynamics. In this talk, I will present how recent developments in holography have provided a way of understanding the physics of black hole thermalization in terms of the spacing statistics of black hole microstates. Based on this, I will suggest that the issue of measuring the quantum aspects of black holes from their ringdown depends on the spectral statistics of their microstates. I will then suggest that certain microstate statistics lend to the possibility of deviations in the ringdown behaviour of black holes in the form of “echoes” which might be interpreted as being due to Planck-scale microstructure near the horizon.