Related papers: Regarding the "Hole Argument"
The information loss paradox is usually stated as an incompatibility between general relativity and quantum mechanics. However, the assumptions leading to the problem are often overlooked and, in fact, a careful inspection of the main…
We critically examine proposals for the so-called warp-drive spacetimes and classify these models based on their various restrictions within the framework of General Relativity. We then provide a summary of general formalism for each class,…
The supposed information paradox for black holes is based on the fundamental misunderstanding that black holes are usefully defined by event horizons. Understood in terms of locally defined trapping horizons, the paradox disappears:…
We argue that the following three statements cannot all be true: (i) Hawking radiation is in a pure state, (ii) the information carried by the radiation is emitted from the region near the horizon, with low energy effective field theory…
I consider a thought experiment measuring the decoherence for quasiclassical superpositions of gravitational field. A version of the hole argument allows to prove that a covariant (background-free) theory is completely unable to define the…
The large scale binary black hole effort in numerical relativity has led to an increasing distinction between numerical and mathematical relativity. This note discusses this situation and gives some examples of succesful interactions…
We discuss some recent work by Tim Maudlin concerning Black Hole Information Loss. We argue, contra Maudlin, that there is a paradox, in the straightforward sense that there are propositions that appear true, but which are incompatible with…
The black hole information paradox is a contradiction between fundamental principles which has puzzled physicists for over forty years. The crux of the problem lies in an assumption about the structure of entanglement across the event…
In this paper we review the hole argument for the space-time points and elementary particles and generalize the hole argument to include all geometric object fields and diffeomorphisms; and, by application of forgetful functors to abstract…
The black hole information paradox tells us something important about the way quantum mechanics and gravity fit together. In these lectures I try to give a pedagogical review of the essential physics leading to the paradox, using mostly…
Recently wide publicity has been given to a claim by T. Vachaspati that "black holes do not exist", that the objects known as black holes in astrophysics should rather be called "black stars" and they not only do not have event horizons but…
Time's apparent passage has long been debated by philosophers, with no decisive argument for or against its objective existence. In this paper we show that introducing the issue of determinism gives the debate a new, empirical twist. We…
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…
A personal perspective on the black hole evaporation process is presented using as guidelines inputs from: (i) loop quantum gravity, (ii) simplified models where concrete results have been obtained, and, (iii) semi-classical quantum general…
The aim of this chapter is twofold. First, we introduce the information loss problem; second, we provide a critical assessment by thoroughly inspecting the assumptions underlying its formulations. In particular, we argue that if we work in…
Stephen Toulmin once observed that `it has never been customary for philosophers to pay much attention to the rhetoric of mathematical debate'. Might the application of Toulmin's layout of arguments to mathematics remedy this oversight?…
In an earlier paper, "Omega-inconsistency in Goedel's formal system: a constructive proof of the Entscheidungsproblem" (math/0206302), I argued that a constructive interpretation of Goedel's reasoning establishes any formal system of…
While it is widely agreed that Bell's theorem is an important result in the foundations of quantum physics, there is much disagreement about what exactly Bell's theorem shows. It is agreed that Bell derived a contradiction with experimental…
I propose that the information loss paradox can be resolved by considering the supertranslation of the horizon caused by the ingoing particles. Information can be recovered in principle, but it is lost for all practical purposes.
The observational "black holes" are quite different objects from the theoretical black holes.