Minimal length effects on motion of a particle in Rindler space *

Abstract

Abstract Various quantum theories of gravity predict the existence of a minimal measurable length. In this paper, we study effects of the minimal length on the motion of a particle in the Rindler space under a harmonic potential. This toy model captures key features of particle dynamics near a black hole horizon and allows us to make three observations. First, we find that chaotic behavior becomes stronger with increases in minimal length effects, leading predominantly to growth in the maximum Lyapunov characteristic exponents, while the KAM curves on Poincaré surfaces of a section tend to disintegrate into chaotic layers. Second, in the presence of the minimal length effects, it can take a finite amount of Rindler time for a particle to cross the Rindler horizon, which implies a shorter scrambling time of black holes. Finally, the model shows that some Lyapunov characteristic exponents can be greater than the surface gravity of the horizon, violating the recently conjectured universal upper bound. In short, our results reveal that quantum gravity effects may make black holes prone to more chaos and faster scrambling.