English

Is the Page-time paradox paradoxical?

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2025-01-09 v1

Abstract

I discuss how five reasonably sounding assumptions lead to a dilemma -- the Page-time paradox -- , which appears to challenge a conventional statistical mechanical underpinning of black hole thermodynamics. By inspecting the conceptual subtleties behind each hypothesis, I list questions that require clarification before the puzzle can be deemed paradoxical. I devote particular attention to using thermodynamic arguments for a system that never reaches equilibrium. As a proof of concept, I show that the paradox is absent in a modified setting that admits an equilibrium thermodynamics formulation.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2402.17815,
  title  = {Is the Page-time paradox paradoxical?},
  author = {Bruno Arderucio Costa},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2402.17815},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

Essay written for the Gravity Research Foundation 2024 Awards for Essays on Gravitation

R2 v1 2026-06-28T15:02:27.417Z