POSSIBLE QUANTUM EXTENSION BEYOND A BLACK-HOLE SINGULARITY

We study the internal structure of a two-dimensional dilatonic evaporating black hole, based on the CGHS model. At the semiclassical level, a (weak) spacelike singularity was previously found to develop inside the black hole. We employ here a simplified quantum formulation of spacetime dynamics in the neighborhood of this singularity, using a minisuperspace-like approach. Quantum evolution is found to be regular and well-defined at the semiclassical singularity. A well-localized initial wave-packet propagating towards the singularity bounces off the latter and retains its well-localized form. Our simplified quantum treatment thus suggests that spacetime may extend semiclassically beyond the singularity, and also signifies the specific extension.