Does String theory resolve the information paradox?

In summary: Information is not lost because black holes are just warped spacetime. There are papers that suggest that information may be lost, but I haven't read them all myself. I'm waiting for someone more knowledgable to weigh in.
  • #1
PRodQuanta
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Ok, so we know that black holes emit Hawking radiation. Knowing this, it is safe to say that over time, black holes will decrease in size until they disappear totally. After decreasing, everything should go back to normal, you'd think. My question is, does the "data", that had been sucked in by the black hole after crossing the event horizon and hurdled toward the singularity, just dissapear? Is the information lost in a flop transition? Or does this "data" reappear?

Maybe a more laymen question is: Is there such a thing as conservation of data, according to a black hole? I'd surely think there would be.

Does String theory predict anything about this?

Thoughts.

Paden Roder
 
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  • #2
PRodQuanta said:
Ok, so we know that black holes emit Hawking radiation. Knowing this, it is safe to say that over time, black holes will decrease in size until they disappear totally. After decreasing, everything should go back to normal, you'd think. My question is, does the "data", that had been sucked in by the black hole after crossing the event horizon and hurdled toward the singularity, just dissapear?
The question I have is if the black hole shrinks too far, then can it lose enough mass to no longer remain a black hole and explode?
 
  • #3
Mike2 said:The question I have is if the black hole shrinks too far, then can it lose enough mass to no longer remain a black hole and explode?
Black holes are just the severe worping of spacetime fabric that is caused by too much mass being concentrated in such a little area. Think of the mass being a bowling ball, and spacetime being a trampoline. If the bowling ball gradually is turned into a liquid and then a steam and dissipates into the air, the warping of the trampoline will become less severe. Over time, the trampoline will come back to normal. There need be no explosion.

Paden Roder
 
  • #4
When a black hole "evaporates" there isn't an explosion. I don't know what string theory predicts about loss of info through a black hole but something that i came across was that you can think there are virtual particle pairs near the event horizon of a black hole and so normally these virtual paricles occur briefly and then annhilate each other but near the evnt horizon of a black hole one of the virtual particles would go in whereas one of them would stay out. So we might lose some information however we would have a copy of it. Now this may be completely off track , I am waiting for someone to correct me.
 
  • #5
PRodQuanta said:
Black holes are just the severe worping of spacetime fabric that is caused by too much mass being concentrated in such a little area. Think of the mass being a bowling ball, and spacetime being a trampoline. If the bowling ball gradually is turned into a liquid and then a steam and dissipates into the air, the warping of the trampoline will become less severe. Over time, the trampoline will come back to normal. There need be no explosion.
But as the bowling ball gradually disappears, at some point the warping of the trampoline will be severe but not severe enough to make the ball qualify as a black hole. So what happens then? (I think that's what Mike2 was trying to get at; if not I'm sorry.)
 
  • #6
Chen said:But as the bowling ball gradually disappears, at some point the warping of the trampoline will be severe but not severe enough to make the ball qualify as a black hole. So what happens then? (I think that's what Mike2 was trying to get at; if not I'm sorry.)
I actually don't know, that's a good question.
Paden Roder
 
  • #7
Black hole information loss--string version

I just recently posted a question about this on s.p.r. Hopefully, some of the real experts will reply. however, for one stringy explanation of why information is not lost in black holes, look up recent papers by Mathur, Lunen and coworkers in ArXiv. there are some short semitechnical papers as well as long technical ones. Both types of papers include some good pictures to help you visualize what is going on. But I gather this is not universally accepted. Jim Graber
 
  • #8
jgraber said: I just recently posted a question about this on s.p.r. Hopefully, some of the real experts will reply. however, for one stringy explanation of why information is not lost in black holes, look up recent papers by Mathur, Lunen and coworkers in ArXiv. there are some short semitechnical papers as well as long technical ones. Both types of papers include some good pictures to help you visualize what is going on. But I gather this is not universally accepted. Jim Graber
Thanks for the help.
Paden Roder
 
  • #9
The short answer is no one knows. There is compelling Stringy results that indicate, at least in their formalism, that the information loss is an illusion.

But depending on who you ask, you will get different answers.
 

1. What is string theory?

String theory is a theoretical framework that attempts to reconcile quantum mechanics and general relativity by describing the fundamental building blocks of the universe as tiny strings rather than point particles.

2. How does string theory relate to black holes?

String theory suggests that black holes are formed when a large amount of energy causes the strings to become highly curved, creating a singularity or point of infinite density at the center of the black hole.

3. Can string theory explain the information paradox of black holes?

String theory proposes that information is not lost in black holes, but rather is encoded in the Hawking radiation emitted from the black hole. However, this is still a topic of ongoing research and debate.

4. What are the implications of string theory on black hole physics?

String theory has the potential to provide a more complete understanding of black holes, including their behavior at the event horizon and information loss. It also suggests the existence of additional dimensions beyond the three spatial dimensions we experience in our everyday lives.

5. Has string theory been experimentally proven in the context of black holes?

No, string theory has not yet been experimentally verified and remains a theoretical framework. However, there are ongoing efforts to test its predictions through experiments and observations, including its implications for black holes.

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