BLACK-HOLE STATISTICS

The quantum statistics of charged, extremal black holes is investigated beginning with the hypothesis that the quantum state is a functional on the space of closed three-geometries, with each black hole connected to an oppositely charged black hole through a spatial wormhole. From this starting point a simple argument is given that a collection of extremal black holes obeys neither Bose nor Fermi statistics. Rather, they obey an exotic variety of particle statistics known as ''infinite statistics'' which resembles that of distinguishable particles and is realized by a q deformation of the quantum commutation relations.