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Black holes, quantum theory and cosmology

Roger Penrose

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Some reasons are given for believing that the rules of quantum (field) theory must be changed when general relativity becomes seriously involved. If full quantum mechanical respect is paid to the principle of equivalence, we find that a superposition of gravitational fields leads to an illegal superposition of different vacua, giving support to a proposal for spontaneous quantum state reduction made earlier by Diósi, and then independently by the author. A different line of attack involves the over-riding role of black holes in the total entropy content of the universe, and in the operation of the 2nd Law of thermodynamics. The author's proposal of conformal cyclic cosmology is reviewed in order to highlight a seeming paradox, according to which the entropy of the universe of the remote future seems to return to the small kind of value that it had at the big bang. The paradox is resolved when we take into account the information loss that, from this perspective, necessarily occurs in Hawking's black-hole evaporation, with the accompanying loss of unitarity.


PACS

04.70.Dy Quantum aspects of black holes, evaporation, thermodynamics

04.20.-q Classical general relativity

95.30.Sf Relativity and gravitation

98.80.-k Cosmology

97.60.Lf Black holes

Subjects

Gravitation and cosmology

Astrophysics and astroparticles

Dates

Issue 1 (2009)



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