Samir D Mathur 2009 Class. Quantum Grav. 26 224001 doi:10.1088/0264-9381/26/22/224001
Samir D Mathur
Show affiliationsThe black hole information paradox is a very poorly understood problem. It is often believed that Hawking's argument is not precisely formulated, and a more careful accounting of naturally occurring quantum corrections will allow the radiation process to become unitary. We show that such is not the case, by proving that small corrections to the leading order Hawking computation cannot remove the entanglement between the radiation and the hole. We formulate Hawking's argument as a 'theorem': assuming 'traditional' physics at the horizon and usual assumptions of locality we will be forced into mixed states or remnants. We also argue that one cannot explain away the problem by invoking AdS/CFT duality. We conclude with recent results on the quantum physics of black holes which show that the interior of black holes have a 'fuzzball' structure. This nontrivial structure of microstates resolves the information paradox and gives a qualitative picture of how classical intuition can break down in black hole physics.
04.70.Dy Quantum aspects of black holes, evaporation, thermodynamics
Particle physics and field theory
Issue 22 (21 November 2009)
Received 1 September 2009
Published 23 October 2009
Samir D Mathur 2009 Class. Quantum Grav. 26 224001
J. A. L. Aguerri et al. 2005 The Astronomical Journal 130 475
Hernán Larralde and George H Weiss 2003 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 36 8367
Wang Hong et al 2005 Chinese Phys. Lett. 22 2980
I L Landau and H R Ott 2002 J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 14 L313
Tomaso Aste and David Sherrington 1999 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 32 7049
Artur Ishkhanyan et al 2005 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 38 3505
T Okada and M Sugawara 2002 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 35 2105
Koo-Chul Lee 1995 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 28 4835
K Mallick and S Sandow 1997 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 30 4513