Entropy is conserved in Hawking radiation as tunneling: A revisit of the black hole information loss paradox

We revisit in detail the paradox of black hole information loss due to Hawking radiation as tunneling. We compute the amount of information encoded in correlations among Hawking radiations for a variety of black holes, including the Schwarzchild black hole, the Reissner–Nordström black hole, the Kerr black hole, and the Kerr–Newman black hole. The special case of tunneling through a quantum horizon is also considered. Within a phenomenological treatment based on the accepted emission probability spectrum from a black hole, we find that information is leaked out hidden in the correlations of Hawking radiation. The recovery of this previously unaccounted for information helps to conserve the total entropy of a system composed of a black hole plus its radiations. We thus conclude, irrespective of the microscopic picture for black hole collapsing, the associated radiation process: Hawking radiation as tunneling, is consistent with unitarity as required by quantum mechanics.     

The Devil in the (Implicit) Details

The black hole information loss paradox has long been one of the most studied and fascinating aspects of black hole physics. In its latest incarnation, it takes the form of the firewall paradox. In this paper, we first give a conceptually oriented presentation of the paradox, based on the notion of causal structure. We then suggest a possible strategy for its resolutions and see that the core idea behind it is that there are connections that are non- local for semiclassical physics which have nonetheless to be taken into account when studying black holes. We see how to concretely implement this strategy in some physical models connected to the ER=EPR conjecture.

     

Time-Symmetric Quantization in Spacetimes with Event Horizons

The standard quantization formalism in spacetimes with event horizons implies a non-unitary evolution of quantum states, as initial pure states may evolve into thermal states. This phenomenon is behind the famous black hole information loss paradox which provoked long-standing debates on the compatibility of quantum mechanics and gravity. In this paper we demonstrate that within an alternative time-symmetric quantization formalism thermal radiation is absent and states evolve unitarily in spacetimes with event horizons. We also discuss the theoretical consistency of the proposed formalism. We explicitly demonstrate that the theory preserves the microcausality condition and suggest a “reinterpretation postulate” to resolve other apparent pathologies associated with negative energy states. Accordingly as there is a consistent alternative, we argue that choosing to use time-asymmetric quantization is a necessary condition for the black hole information loss paradox.     

The information paradox: Conflicts and resolutions

Many relativists have been long convinced that black hole evaporation leads to information loss or remnants. String theorists have however not been too worried about the issue, largely due to a belief that the Hawking argument for information loss is flawed in its details. A recently derived inequality shows that the Hawking argument for black holes with horizon can in fact be made rigorous. What happens instead is that in string theory, black hole microstates have no horizons. Thus the evolution of radiation quanta with E??kT is modified by order unity at the horizon, and we resolve the information paradox.     

Unthermal Hawking Radiation from a General Stationary Black Hole

Using Damour-Ruflini＇s method, Hawking radiation from a general stationary black hole is investigated again deeply. Considering the back reaction of the particle to the space-time and energy conservation, we find that the radiation is not exactly thermal and can take out information from the black hole. This can be used to explain the information loss paradox, and the result is consistent with the works finished before.     

A review of the microscopic modeling of the 5-dim. black hole of HB string theory

We review the theory of the microscopic modeling of the 5-dim. black hole of type HB string theory in terms of the D ₁–D ₅ brane system. A detailed discussion of the low energy effective Lagrangian of the brane system is presented and the black hole micro-states are identified. These considerations are valid in the strong coupling regime of supergravity due to the non-renormalization of the low energy dynamics in this model. Using Maldacena duality and standard statistical mechanics methods one can account for black hole thermodynamics and calculate the absorption cross section and the Hawking radiation rates. Hence, at least in the case of this model black hole, since we can account for black hole properties within a unitary theory, there is no information paradox.     

Essay: The Quantum Gravitational Black Hole Is Neither Black Nor White

Understanding the end state of black hole evaporation, the microscopic origin of black hole entropy, the information loss paradox, and the nature of the singularity arising in gravitational collapse - these are outstanding challenges for any candidate quantum theory of gravity. Recently, a midisuperspace model of quantum gravitational collapse has been solved using a lattice regularization scheme. It is shown that the mass of an eternal black hole follows the Bekenstein spectrum, and a related argument provides a fairly accurate estimate of the entropy. The solution also describes a quantized mass-energy distribution around a central black hole, which in the WKB approximation, is precisely Hawking radiation. The leading quantum gravitational correction makes the spectrum non-thermal, thus providing a plausible resolution of the information loss problem.     

Hawking Radiation as Tunneling from the Vaidya–Bonner Black Hole

Applying the Hamilton–Jacobi method, we investigate the Hawking radiation as tunneling from the non-stationary Vaidya–Bonner black hole by considering the unfixed background space-time and self-gravitational interaction. The result shows the actual radiation spectrum deviates from the purely thermal one and the tunneling rate is related not only to the change of Bekenstein–Hawking entropy but also to the integral to the black hole mass and charge. This implies information loss is possible.     

Spacetime topology change and black hole information

Topology change—the creation of a disconnected baby universe—due to black hole collapse may resolve the information loss paradox. Evolution from an early time Cauchy surface to a final surface which includes a slice of the disconnected region can be unitary and consistent with conventional quantum mechanics. We discuss the issue of cluster decomposition, showing that any violations thereof are likely to be unobservably small. Topology change is similar to the black hole remnant scenario and only requires assumptions about the behavior of quantum gravity in Planckian regimes. It does not require non-locality or any modification of low-energy physics.     

Tunneling of Charged Massive Particles from Taub-NUT-Reissner-Nordström-AdS Black Holes

We apply the null-geodesic method to investigate tunneling radiation of charged and magnetized massive particles from Taub-NUT-Reissner-Nordström black holes endowed with electric as well as magnetic charges in Anti-de Sitter (AdS) spaces. The geodesics of charged massive particle tunneling from the black hole is not lightlike, but can be determined by the phase velocity. We find that the tunneling rate is related to the difference of Bekenstein-Hawking entropies of the black hole before and after the emission of particles. The entropy differs from just a quarter area at the horizon of black holes with NUT parameter. The emission spectrum is not precisely thermal anymore and the deviation from the precisely thermal spectrum can bring some information out, which can be treated as an explanation to the information loss paradox. The result can also be treated as a quantum-corrected radiation temperature, which is dependent on the black hole background and the radiation particle’s energy and charges.     

Unthermal Charged Massive Hawking Radiation from a Reissner-Nordström Black Hole

Using Damour-Ruffini’s method, the massive charged particles’ Hawking radiation from a Reissner-Nordström black hole is investigated. When the back-reaction of particles’ energy and charge to spacetime is considered, we get the unthermal spectrum. It is possible that the information will get out from the black hole with the corrected spectrum. It can be used to explain the information loss paradox, and the underlying unitary theory will be satisfied. The same conclusion as the works finished before can be drawn. However, our work is different from them, and the method is more simple and explicit.     

Five-dimensional black hole string backgrounds and brane universe acceleration

We examine background solutions of black hole type arising from the string effective action in five dimensions. We derive the unique metric — dilaton vacuum which is a Schwarzschild type black hole. It is found that it can be extended to incorporate electric charge without changing the topology of the three space. Kalb–Ramond charge may also be introduced if the three space is closed. The basic features of the cosmology induced on a three brane evolving in this background are also discussed.     

Tunneling into fuzzball states

String theory suggests that black hole microstates are quantum, horizon sized ‘fuzzballs’, rather than smooth geometries with horizon. Radiation from fuzzballs can carry information and does not lead to information loss. But if we let a shell of matter collapse then it creates a horizon, and it seems that subsequent radiation will lead to information loss. We argue that the resolution to this problem is that the shell can tunnel to the fuzzball configurations. The amplitude for tunneling is small because we are relating two macroscopically different configurations, but the number of states that we can tunnel to, given through the Bekenstein entropy, is very large. These small and large numbers can cancel each other, making it possible for the shell to tunnel into fuzzball states before a significant amount of radiation has been emitted. This offers a way to resolve the information paradox.     

Direct imaging rapidly-rotating non-Kerr black holes

Recently, two of us have argued that non-Kerr black holes in gravity theories different from General Relativity may have a topologically non-trivial event horizon. More precisely, the spatial topology of the horizon of non-rotating and slow-rotating objects would be a 2-sphere, like in Kerr space–time, while it would change above a critical value of the spin parameter. When the topology of the horizon changes, the black hole central singularity shows up. The accretion process from a thin disk can potentially overspin these black holes and induce the topology transition, violating the Weak Cosmic Censorship Conjecture. If the astrophysical black hole candidates are not the black holes predicted by General Relativity, we might have the quite unique opportunity to see their central region, where classical physics breaks down and quantum gravity effects should appear. Even if the quantum gravity region turned out to be extremely small, at the level of the Planck scale, the size of its apparent image would be finite and potentially observable with future facilities.     

Charged Particles’ Hawking Radiation via Tunneling of Both Horizons from Reissner-Nordström-Taub-NUT Black Holes

In some recent derivations thermal characters of the inner horizon have been employed; however, the understanding of possible role that may play the inner horizons of black holes in black hole thermodynamics is still somewhat incomplete. Motivated by this problem we investigate Hawking radiation of the Reissner-Nordström-Taub-NUT (RNTN) black hole by considering thermal characters of both the outer and inner horizons. We apply Damour-Ruffini method and the thin film brick wall model to calculate the temperature and the entropy of the inner horizon of the RNTN black hole. The inner horizon admits thermal character with positive temperature and entropy proportional to its area, and it thus may contribute to the total entropy of the black hole in the context of Nernst theorem. Considering conservations of energy and charge and the back-reaction of emitting particles to the spacetime, the emission spectra are obtained for both the inner and outer horizons. The total emission rate is the product of the emission rates of the inner and outer horizons, and it deviates from the purely thermal spectrum and can bring some information out. Thus, the result can be treated as an explanation to the information loss paradox.     

Tunneling Radiation Characteristic of the Charged Particle from the Reissner–Nordström–anti de Sitter Black Hole

Applying Parikh’s semi-classical quantum tunneling method, the tunneling radiation characteristic of the charged particle from the event horizon of the Reissner–Nordström–anti de Sitter black hole is researched. The result shows the derived spectrum is not purely thermal one, but is consistent with the underlying unitary theory, which gives a might explanation to the information loss paradox and is the correct amendment to the Hawking radiation.     

Black Hole Information Problem and Wave Bursts

By reexamination of the boundary conditions of wave equation on a black hole horizon it is found not harmonic, but real-valued exponentially time-dependent solutions. This means that quantum particles probably do not cross the Schwarzschild horizon, but are absorbed and some are reflected by it, what potentially can solve the famous black hole information paradox. To study this strong gravitational lensing we are introducing an effective negative cosmological constant between the Schwarzschild and photon spheres. It is shown that the reflected particles can obtain their additional energy in this effective AdS space and could explain properties of some unusually strong signals, like LIGO events, gamma ray and fast radio bursts.     

Exact solutions for shells collapsing towards a pre-existing black hole

The gravitational collapse of a star is an important issue both for general relativity and astrophysics, which is related to the well-known “frozen star” paradox. This paradox has been discussed intensively and seems to have been solved in the comoving-like coordinates. However, to a real astrophysical observer within a finite time, this problem should be discussed in the point of view of the distant rest-observer, which is the main purpose of this Letter. Following the seminal work of Oppenheimer and Snyder (1939), we present the exact solution for one or two dust shells collapsing towards a pre-existing black hole. We find that the metric of the inner region of the shell is time-dependent and the clock inside the shell becomes slower as the shell collapses towards the pre-existing black hole. This means the inner region of the shell is influenced by the property of the shell, which is contrary to the result in Newtonian theory. It does not contradict the Birkhoff's theorem, since in our case we cannot arbitrarily select the clock inside the shell in order to ensure the continuity of the metric. This result in principle may be tested experimentally if a beam of light travels across the shell, which will take a longer time than without the shell. It can be considered as the generalized Shapiro effect, because this effect is due to the mass outside, but not inside as the case of the standard Shapiro effect. We also found that in real astrophysical settings matter can indeed cross a black hole's horizon according to the clock of an external observer and will not accumulate around the event horizon of a black hole, i.e., no “frozen star” is formed for an external observer as matter falls towards a black hole. Therefore, we predict that only gravitational wave radiation can be produced in the final stage of the merging process of two coalescing black holes. Our results also indicate that for the clock of an external observer, matter, after crossing the event horizon, will never arrive at the “singularity” (i.e. the exact center of the black hole), i.e., for all black holes with finite lifetimes their masses are distributed within their event horizons, rather than concentrated at their centers. We also present a worked-out example of the Hawking's area theorem.     

Hawking Radiation of the Charged Particles via Tunneling from the (<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>+2)-Dimensional Topological Reissner-Nordström-de Sitter Black Hole

Extending Parikh-Wilczek’s semi-classical tunneling method, we discuss the Hawking radiation of the charged massive particles via tunneling from the cosmological horizon of (n+2)-dimensional Topological Reissner-Nordström-de Sitter black hole.The result shows that, when energy conservation and electric charge conservation are taken into account, the derived spectrum deviates from the pure thermal one, but satisfies the unitary theory, which provides a probability for the solution of the information loss paradox.     

A Note on Black Hole Information Paradox in de Sitter Spacetimes

The possibility of stable or quasi-stable Planck mass black hole remnants as solution to the black hole information paradox is commonly believed phenomenologically unacceptable. Since we need a black hole remnant for every possible initial state,the number of remnants is expected to be infinite and that would lead to remnant pair production in any physical process with a total available energy roughly exceeding the Planck mass. In this note I point out that a positive cosmological constant of the Universe would naturally lead to an upper bound on the numberof possible remnants.