Where do virtual particles come from?

[Fiziqs]

TL;DR Summary

How do we know that the virtual particles involved in Hawking radiation actually came from inside the black hole?

I watched a Youtube! video on black holes, and it said that black holes evaporate via Hawking radiation. If I understood the video correctly a virtual particle can pop into existence just outside the event horizon, and that one of the resulting pair can subsequently fall back into the black hole while the other one escapes, thus causing the black hole to lose mass.

But how do we know that the virtual particles that pop into existence around a black hole actually came from inside the black hole? Couldn't they have come from anywhere? After all, if virtual particles are constantly popping into existence even in a vacuum, how do we know where those virtual particles are coming from? And if the pair didn't come from inside the black hole, then aren't they just as likely to be adding mass to the black hole rather than taking it away?

Thanks

 

[PeterDonis]

How do we know that the virtual particles involved in Hawking radiation actually came from inside the black hole?

We don't, because, first, Hawking radiation isn't made of virtual particles, and second, Hawking radiation doesn't come from inside the black hole.

 

[PeterDonis]

I watched a Youtube! video on black holes

You should not be trying to learn science from pop science Youtube videos. You are much more likely than not to get misleading information, as it appears you have in this case.

 

[PeterDonis]

This post from a thread some time ago on a similar topic might be helpful:

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/black-hole-information-loss-question.553366/#post-3640365

Also the John Baez article that it links to.

 

[haushofer]

Actually, the "particles" (quantum fields) constituting hawking radiation are not localized when they leave the black hole.

 

[EPR]

But when they leave the black hole in very large numbers they should be fairly well localized(on average).

 

[TeethWhitener]

This post from a thread some time ago on a similar topic might be helpful:

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/black-hole-information-loss-question.553366/#post-3640365

Also the John Baez article that it links to.

The John Baez article link is broken.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Where do virtual particles come from?

From the imaginations of those doing the calculations.

 

[berkeman]

The John Baez article link is broken.

Does this look like the same paper? @PeterDonis

http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Relativity/BlackHoles/hawking.html

 

[PeterDonis]

The John Baez article link is broken.

Yes, so I see. The link @berkeman gave is probably the same article; also this one might be related:

http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Relativity/BlackHoles/info_loss.html