Related papers: Black holes without firewalls
A promising strategy for better understanding space and time at the Planck scale, is outlined and further pursued. It is explained in detail, how black hole unitarity demands the existence of transformations that can remove firewalls. This…
Event horizons are (generically) not physically observable. In contrast, apparent horizons (and the closely related trapping horizons) are generically physically observable --- in the sense that they can be detected by observers working in…
We discuss some of the drawbacks of using event horizons to define black holes. The reasons are both practical, physical and theoretical. We argue that locally defined trapping horizons can remedy many of these drawbacks. We examine of the…
Considering the role of black hole singularity in quantum evolution, a resolution to the firewall paradox is presented. It is emphasized that if an observer has the singularity as a part of his spacetime, then the semi-classical evolution…
Black hole complementarity is incompatible with the existence of traversable wormholes. In fact, traversable wormholes cause problems for any theory where information comes out in the Hawking radiation.
We comment on a recent paper of Almheiri, Marolf, Polchinski and Sully who argue against black hole complementarity based on the claim that an infalling observer 'burns' as he approaches the horizon. We show that in fact measurements made…
The singularitiy inside a spherical charged black hole, coupled to a spherical, massless scalar field is studied numerically. The profile of the characteristic scalar field was taken to be a power of advanced time with an exponent…
Classical black holes and event horizons are highly non-local objects, defined in relation to the causal past of future null infinity. Alternative, quasilocal characterizations of black holes are often used in mathematical, quantum, and…
The black-hole firewall theorem derives a suspicious consequence (large energy-momentum density on the horizon of a black hole) from a set of seemingly reasonable hypotheses. I point out the hypothesis which is likely to be unrealistic---a…
It is well-known that the Riemann curvature tensor has no discontinuity at the black hole horizon. It is also well-known that a freely falling observer takes finite time to reach the horizon from an outside point. However, the usual…
In an approach to quantum gravity where space-time arises from coarse graining of fundamentally discrete structures, black hole formation and subsequent evaporation can be described by a unitary evolution without the problems encountered by…
We discuss the black hole information problem, including the recent claim that unitarity requires a horizon firewall, emphasizing the role of decoherence and macroscopic superpositions. We consider the formation and evaporation of a large…
We discuss and compare definitions of a black hole based on the existence of event and apparent horizons. In this connection we present a non-singular model of a black hole with a closed apparent horizon and discuss its properties. We…
The firewall paradox for black holes is often viewed as indicating a conflict between unitarity and the equivalence principle. We elucidate how the paradox manifests as a limitation of semiclassical theory, rather than presents a conflict…
Classically, black holes are compact objects with perfect semi-permeable horizons: Anything may enter, nothing may leave. We consider an axiomatic approach that applies to any black hole type, including arbitrarily near-extremal black…
Trapped regions bounded by horizons are the defining features of black holes. However, formation of a singularity-free apparent horizon in finite time of a distant observer is consistent only with special states of geometry and matter in…
A simple criterion is given to rule out the existence of closed trapped surfaces in large open regions inside black holes.
We propose that the vacuum state of a scalar field around a black hole is a modified Unruh vacuum. In (1+1) dimensions, we show that a free-faller close to such an horizon can be modelled as an inertial observer in a modified Minkowski…
Event horizons are a defining feature of black holes. Consequently, there have been many efforts to probe their existence in astrophysical black hole candidates, spanning ten orders of magnitude in mass. Nevertheless, horizons remain an…
There is persistent and endemic confusion between the true (future) horizon and the illusory (past) horizon of a black hole. The illusory horizon is the redshifting surface of matter that fell into the black hole long ago. A person who…