Does the quantum information in black holes truly disappear, if not where does it go, and would that information eventually break the laws of physics as we know it, or could there be an alternate explanation?

 

What is quantum information?

Quantum information itself refers to the quantum properties of all particles that make up a specific object. These can be the object’s position, velocity and spin. All entities in the universe are made up of particles with specific and distinctive quantum properties. This concept is summarised in a fundamental physics rule that states, “The total amount of quantum information in the universe must be conserved.” The quantum information in an object is never lost completely even if you absolutely destroyed the entity. In theory, if we understood everything about that object’s information, we would be able to recreate the object and revert it to its original state using its particle components. Much of modern Science is built upon a mathematical necessity, the rule of conservation of information. This rule however gets a bit mixed up when looking at black holes.

 

What happens to quantum information in black holes?

The second an object enters a black hole it looks as if it has disappeared and left the universe completely. Its quantum information appears to become lost forever and as if it will never be retrieved again. However, although the information is now out of plain sight, it still may exist somewhere in the uniquely unknown black hole. Nevertheless, this doesn’t break any laws of physics quite yet. In turn various theories have been proposed to help solve this paradox. On the outside and surface layer of a black hole is something called the event horizon. This is the most dangerous but most well understood part of the black hole. It appears as though the object’s quantum information becomes encoded on the event horizon once it enters the black holes area of no return. The confusing part about black holes is that as their mass increases so does their event horizon’s surface. This in turn would suggest that as a black hole engulfs the object of its choice, it also grows large enough, allowing it to conserve the quantum information of the object. No matter where the information is conserved (the event horizon or actually in the black hole), the laws of physics still remain true and aren’t broken… Until you take Hawking Radiation into consideration. In short, this term states that black holes are slowly but surely evaporating. Black holes begin to lose mass over unimaginably long periods of time. Naturally, this happens because they end up “shedding” particles off of their event horizons. If we were to take a deeper look, it looks as if the information the black hole encodes aren’t actually related to its evaporating particles. This suggests something that seems utterly impossible…that a black hole and all the quantum information it holds could be fully erased. However, newly discovered information suggests that through Hawking radiation, after long periods of time, the energy that once went in comes back out. This quantum information has no pattern. In other words, it is predicted to be released in a completely random order. As the black hole lives on and ages, it transforms into an open system, releasing all information in the form of energy. Although we don’t know every step as to how this happens, we can decide what parts of Hawking’s theory were true and parts weren’t using the new information gathered.

 

What are the alternate theories for what happens to quantum information in black holes? Although the evaporation process would take an incredibly long time, the questions it raises for physics need to be addressed and looked at more intensely. If the information in black holes really gets permanently destroyed it would force all scientists and those who deal with new paradoxes to rewrite some of the most important and substantial scientific paradigms. As new paradoxes aren’t seen all that often, it gives everyone opportunities for new discoveries to be made. Investigations of many different solutions to the black hole information paradox were and still are being investigated by researchers. Some have put together a theory that the information actually gets encoded within the radiation that ends up escaping, in ways we can’t understand quite yet, while others think that the quantum information actually doesn’t make its way into the black hole itself to begin with. Some have also put forth the idea that the paradox is simply a misunderstanding of how the two, quantum field theory and general relativity and how they interact with one another. A “unified theory of everything” has been another theory suggested, in which many say will come naturally at one point, answering all paradoxes. By exploring this paradox, we have moved closer towards the unknown, and from it we have discovered even crazier theories. One of which is the holographic principle that relates to the information paradox. Examining the idea that the black hole’s event horizon and its 2D surface can store quantum information, the holographic principle proposes that the actual boundary of the observable universe is also a 2D surface encoded with information about valid, 3D objects. If this theory is true, it is possible that reality as we know might just be a holographic projection of that information. Any of the above theories, if fully proven would allow for more questions to be thoroughly explored. However, it is also likely that none of these theories are completely true. Perhaps parts of them are or we simply are dealing with a concept that is too difficult for us to grasp at the moment. Ultimately, the discovery of quantum information being released through energy after the old ages of black holes seems to be the most relevant theory at the moment. This is because slowly researchers are gathering more and more proof for it.

 

 

Would the info we know from quantum information in black holes break the laws of physics?

Nobody has the definite answers to the questions that the black hole information paradox poses, but that doesn’t mean researchers will stop searching for them. In fact, many theories are made from the curiosity of those scientists. Some believe that the information is ultimately preserved. This would involve all physics as a whole, being re-written. Maybe the information attached to the black hole’s surface finds its way to the emitted radiation and becomes a part of it. Perhaps Hawking’s original radiation analysis was far too elementary and by making cautious observations we could with great thoroughness, rebuild all the objects that were absorbed by these black holes. Although this would save all of known physics, no one has been able to come up with a viable way to make it happen yet. Maybe then information does not adhere to the surface but is instead left behind in tiny pieces as the black hole evaporates. Even so, we have no idea how this will work in practise. In all, what makes this paradox so special is that no matter what the final answer ends up being, it will lead us to understanding new physics. While learning to completely solve this mysterious paradox we will learn plenty about the universe and maybe we will get some answers that lead us to even crazier discoveries.

 

Why should we care/why is this important to understand?

Black holes are the only objects that are capable of being able to potentially re-write the laws of physics. So i’d say that is a pretty big deal. If quantum information was found to disappear completely or the holographic principle was proven, humans would have to re-think everything we thought we knew about physics and accept something completely new. This topic should interest future scientists and researchers as it is ever-changing and will continue to be investigated until something is 100% proven.

 

So, what conclusion can we come to? (Does the quantum information in black holes truly disappear, if not where does it go, and would that information eventually break the laws of physics as we know it, or could there be an alternate explanation?)

Truly no scientist or person in general has a definite answer to where quantum information goes in black holes. Perhaps the topic is too broad and too unknown to know completely say what occurs within this phenomenon. Scientists are still researching where quantum information goes and will continue to propose new theories. However, what we do know is that no matter the final answer found, it will change at least some part of physics, simply because it is far too complex not too. There are many things about black holes and their existence that researchers still can’t grasp, and it will likely take years and years for them to come up with a solid answer. There are many alternate explanations to what happens to quantum information in black holes, and although the paradox might be coming to an end due to newly discovered information, there still isn’t a theory that is 100% proven. So, until then, we will keep asking questions, learning and digging deeper into this crazy paradox.

 

 

 

Works Consulted/Citations:

“Quantum Information Science.” CIFAR, 18 Nov. 2020, cifar.ca/research-programs/quantum-information-science/.

The Black Hole Information Paradox Comes to an End. www.quantamagazine.org/the-black-hole-information-paradox-comes-to-an-end-20201029/.

Kajuri, Nirmalya. “A Black Hole Paradox Where Relativity and Quantum Physics Meet.” The Wire Science, 4 Sept. 2020, science.thewire.in/the-sciences/black-hole-information-loss-paradox-hawking-radiation-no-hair-theorem-remnant-hypothesis/.

Vergos, Nikolaos. “Holographic Principle.” Gale , 2021, https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=SCIC&u=43riss&id=GALE%7CCX8124401247&v=2.1&it=r&sid=SCIC&asid=6ef8c7aa.

Sutter, Paul. “What Is the Black Hole Information Paradox?” Space.com, Space, 6 June 2019, www.space.com/black-hole-information-paradox-mystery.html.

Nomura, Yasunori. “Have We Solved the Black Hole Information Paradox?” Scientific American Blog Network, Scientific American, 30 Jan. 2020, blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/have-we-solved-the-black-hole-information-paradox/.

universetoday. “What Is the Black Hole Information Paradox? The Problem with Black Hole Evaporation.” YouTube, YouTube, 28 Oct. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzQT74nNGME.