Quantum Tunneling: Can Photons Escape Black Holes?

[Tom Phillippe]

Could a photon utilize quantum tunneling to escape the threshold of a black hole or the confines of the curvature of space-time? Could any particle for that matter?

 

[Simon Bridge]

You could probably work it out - what is the condition needed for quantum tunnelling?

 

[Khashishi]

Particles of the same type are indistinguishable, so you can't really say if that photon came from inside the black hole. But black holes do emit photons through Hawking radiation.

 

[Simon Bridge]

The mechanism for Hawking radiation has the particles coming from just outside the event horizon.

Dealing with black holes is tricky because you need a careful description of the observer.